Summons-Complaint and Police reports (20230505-01)
Please accept this as my request for government records under both OPRA and the common law right of access. Thank you very much for your commitment to transparent government.
RECORDS REQUESTED:
1. Summons-complaint issued in State v. Matthew Frankowski, No. 0425 W 2014 000177. It was probably issued by Officer Beach.
2. Police incident reports of the incident that led to the issuance of the above-cited summons-complaint.
Please redact all personal identifiers and other exempt information.
John--we received your OPRA request and it is in process.
Terry Shannon
Borough Clerk
Borough of Mount Ephraim
121 S. Black Horse Pike
Mt. Ephraim, NJ 08059
856-931-1546
Mr. Paff--pursuant to your OPRA request dated May 14, 2023, attached are the documents you requested which have been redacted.
The narrative is redacted as (1) a criminal investigatory record pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1 and (2) for privacy concerns for the victim due to the incident being Domestic Violence related. As the court held in Pepe v. Pepe, 258 N.J. Super. 157, 165, 609 A.2d 127, 130 (Ch. Div. 1992) (and confirmed by the Appellate Division in North Jersey Media Group Inc. v. Passaic County Prosecutor's Office), the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:25-17 et seq., is applied to records that may be subject to OPRA. These documents should be reviewed to determine if their release (1) would be detrimental or potentially harmful to the victim, (2) will adverse publicity be a factor, and (3) will access to records on a case-by-case basis discourage the victim from coming forward. In Taub v. Cullen, 373 N.J. Super. 435, 439, 862 A.2d 68 (Ch. Div. 2004), the Court also included whether the decision would deter other similarly situated from filing actions under the Act for fear of possible disclosure of their records in the future. After a review of the documents in question, the Borough has determined that in order to meet the confidentiality requirements of the DVA, redactions must be made to the records.
If for any reason you disagree with our determination as to what had to be redacted, please let me know and include your explanation and justification as to why you disagree so we can take it under advisement.
Terry Shannon
Borough Clerk
Borough of Mount Ephraim
121 S. Black Horse Pike
Mt. Ephraim, NJ 08059
856-931-1546