Kader Mustafa
ASK NJ Media made this OPRA request to Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office,
This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Records requested:
Please send your response in PDF form.
1. Copies of any police CAD report(s) with narrative(s), police incident reports, arrest report(s) criminal charge complaint(s), affidavit(s) of probable cause, and indictments against defendant Kader Mustafa.
2. Copies of any final judgement/disposition of the criminal charge complaint(s) that were filed against defendant Kader Mustafa.
Please include a Record Index with your response.
*A record index that identifies each record requested and the specific legal basis for a denial of access (including redactions) to each record.
Yours faithfully,
ASK NJ Media Co.
Please see attached letter
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without the expressed written consent of the County, is prohibited. If you
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Dear Mary Juliano,
I never expected for any of the OPRA requests to responded within 7 business days due to Governor Murphy's EO regarding OPRA requests. Please take as much time as you want under the present 'pandemic' that we are experiencing right now. I do appreciate the effort that you are putting into responding to my OPRA requests. On the other hand, I don't really appreciate the fact that I was accused of being abusive and harassing to you without merit...!! I have never abused the right(s) that comes under the OPRA statutes. I have never wasted any public resources nor abused any public personnel either. I was always respectful and courteous whenever I dealt with any of the public personnel that works for the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office. I'm working on a few different media project(s) as a 'citizen video journalist' that I need the various data and/or information that I have requested from the MCPO. None of my OPRA requests that I have submitted to the MCPO are frivolous either.
I'm also considering filing an ethics complaint on you due to the tone of today's letter that is dated 6-25-2020. I understand that 'citizen video journalists' doesn't get the same respect as corporate journalists does and that's a fact...!! It also appears that your department is understaff.....and if that's the case, please take it up with your superiors instead of being intimidating and taking out your frustrations out on me.
Yours sincerely,
ASK NJ Media Co.
Dear ASK NJ Media:
I do not know you and was unaware of your status as a "citizen video journalist." I don't have any views at all about the status of citizen video journalists versus corporate journalists.
The letter was intended to communicate to you the impact of your massive number of OPRA requests and the strain that they have created. The letter was not intended to insult you or impute bad motives on you. I don't even know you. I can tell you that the volume, nature, and timing of your requests has been overwhelming and unusual. They felt abusive. This is not only my opinion, but the consensus of former and present OPRA custodians I have spoken with around the state. You apparently were not aware of the effect that the requests were having. The letter was intended to communicate that to you, and to try to work with you to accommodate both of our positions.
The pandemic does not give my Office unlimited time to respond. I appreciate your flexibility with deadlines. You do not have to share with me the purpose of your requests, whether for a media project or something else. The statute, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g), requires me -- if requests become substantially disruptive -- to attempt to reach a reasonable solution with you that accommodates both of our interests. The letter was my attempt to do that, not to "accuse" you of anything. I regret that you found the tone of it upsetting. I want to work with you to accomplish access to the records that you seek and that are publicly accessible. I am asking you to work with me as well, respectful of the value of the time and resources that are expended to process your requests. I am hopeful that we can do that moving forward.
Mary Juliano
Assistant Prosecutor
Monmouth County
Dear Mary Juliano,
I don't know what former and present OPRA custodians that you have spoken with around the state but it's a moot point at this juncture. “Abuse” is a word that is thrown around a lot in casual conversion; but what defines abuse? How does one know if they are committing abuse or if they are being abused? The abuse definition is actually quite simple. According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, the definition of abuse is the following: Abuse is defined as any action that intentionally harms or injures another person. So, I don't know how filing OPRA requests with different government agencies falls under the "abuse" category.
The OPRA statutes and the process to obtain public documents are very complicated for one reason or another. I have had different OPRA custodians since 2017 misquote different sections of the OPRA statutes to me. I do have some video/written documentation to back up this statement. We can't have government agencies making up their own rules that are contrary to law. I also had different government attorneys misinterpret the OPRA statutes and costed the taxpayers money. Each one of my OPRA lawsuits that I have filed, except for the one that is presently being litigated, came back in my favor. I do not get any kickbacks from any of these lawsuits either.
I'm very knowledgeable about the OPRA statutes compared to your average citizen. I'm still learning myself because I don't know the official names for all of the public documents at this point. I do appreciate the effect that the requests are having on the different agencies. I'm trying to create some positive changes and work within the system to make it more easier for your average citizen to gain access to public documents. I actually do take the time to read through the responses that I have received from the different government agencies.
In the future, I suggest that you don't use inflammatory words like "abusive", "harassing", "frivolous" when dealing with the public in the course of your job.
Yours sincerely,
ASK NJ Media Co.
This email with attachment responds to your Public Record Request of June
23, 2020. The deadline for responding to the request was extended to July
16, 2020.
The Complaint, Affidavit of Probable Cause, Arrest Report and Indictment
are attached. Driver's license, social security, and phone numbers are
redacted in accordance with N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5. Vehicle registration is
redacted as a "confidential personal identifier" in accordance with R.
1:38-7(a) and N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9.
The CAD report is attached, with portions of it redacted pursuant to the
"criminal investigatory record" exception, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1., as
interpreted and applied to CAD reports in North Jersey Media Group, Inc.
v. Township of Lyndhurst, 441 N.J. Super. 70, 105-07 (App. Div. 2015),
rev'd on other grounds, 229 N.J. 541, 569 n.6 (2017).
The request for police incident reports is denied pursuant to the
"criminal investigator record" exception. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1; see North
Jersey Media Group, Inc. v. Township of Lyndhurst, 229 N.J. 541, 569
(2017) (investigative reports and witness statements about criminal
incident "fall within the 'criminal investigatory exception'"); Serrano v.
South Brunswick Twp., 358 N.J. Super. 356-57, 360, 370 (App. Div. 2003)
(affirming dismissal of portion of complaint regarding non-disclosure of
police and EMT reports, on the ground such documents were "criminal
investigatory records").
The request for final judgment/disposition is denied for lack of a
responsive record.