OFFICE OF THE COUNTY PROSECUTOR: COUNTY OF MONMOUTH 132 JERSEYVILLE AVENUE FREEHOLD, Nj 0728-2374 LORE Lanskay (732) 431-7160 MicagL | wo)ctECHOWSKL CHRISTOPHER J. GRAMICCIONE MONMOUTH COUNTY PROSECUTOR chietor Darbenivis Febroary 1, 2018 Thomas Cafferty, Esq, Gibbons, P.C One Gateway Center Newark, NJ 07102-5310 Re: OPRA request dated January 26, 2018 Dear Mr. Cafferty, ‘This office received your letter dated January 26, 2018, written on behalf of Alex Geean, a reporter with the Asbury Park Press, via e-mail on January 26, 2018 and it was received by the records custodian on the same date. You requested that this office reconsider its’ denial of access to records requested by Mr. Gecan on January 3, 2018 pertaining to the quadruple homicide that occurred in Long Branch on December 31, 2017. 911 calls: As previously stated, there are two (2) 911 calls in this case, ‘The calls were placed by two (2) people who were both witnesses and victims of this horrific event. ‘They called 911 in order to summon the police and ambulances in response to a shooting that took place in the private home where they were gathered. As you aware, the shooting resulted in the deaths of four (4) people and a juve the accused shooter, The juvenile is subject to waiver from juvenile court to adult court where he could be sentenced to thirty (30) years or more in prison, This is an extraordinarily complex criminal case. Accordingly, this office must be very careful in its’ handling of the records. While 911 calls are normally released to reporters and news agencies often play them on theit websites or television broadcasts, in this case, there are significant privacy interests that must be considered. Not only must the privacy interests of the two (2) callers be considered, but also of the juvenile whom they are speaking about during the calls. In addition, there is no part of the calls that could be redacted in order to satisfy your request. While speaking to each other, the dispatchers continually repeat what the callers have reported to them, all which pertain to the shooting and the alleged juvenile shooter. Moreover, as stated in our prior denial letter to Alex Gecan, this case remains under investigation and is pending waiver to adult court, The intense media interest in this case, including numerous written articles and news broadcasts, necessitates that our office take every http://meponj.orgpossible step to ensure that this juvenile receive fair treatment in both Family and Criminal courts and has the benefit of an impartial jury pool. Relying on the case law and statutes noted in the denial letter to Alex Gecan dated January 9, 2018, your request for the 911 calls is denied. Dashboard and Body Worn Camera Footage; CAD Reports: In this case, several law enforcement agencies responded to the crime scene. Some activated dashboard cameras, which included audio, and some activated body wor cameras. Both types of cameras capture the scene outside of the home and, more importantly, the scene inside the home. Inside of the home, four (4) deceased human beings were discovered, an alleged murder weapon was recovered, the juvenile was taken into custody, and witnesses were spoken to about what occurred. In addition, as evidence was removed from the home, it was taken outside, which was captured on dashboard cameras. Further, conversations between officers from these various law enforcement agencies are captured on these cameras. While most agencies now require, pursuant to General Orders, that their officers activate dashboard cameras and body worn cameras as they respond to criminal events, as well as store the footage on their servers, that does not automatically mean that the footage must be released under OPRA. Executive Onder #69 states that “criminal investigation records that are required to be made, maintained or kept by any State or local agency” are not deemed to be public records. NAIS.A. 47:1A-9(@). Here, the 911 calls made it clear that a crime had occurred in the home. This was not a case in which, for example, a medical emergency was reported and it was later determined to be criminal, The moment the call was received, a criminal investigation was underway. See Paff v. Ocean County Pros. Office, 446 N.J. Super. 163 (App. Div. 2016). In addition, the privacy interests of the deceased victims and their living family members must again be considered here. We have a duty to protect crime victims’ privacy rights ‘According to the Crime Victims Constitutional Amendment, “victim of a crime” means: ... b) the spouse, parent, legal guardian, grandparent, child or sibling of the decedent in the case of a criminal homicide. N.J. Const, art. I, $22. It would abhorrent for this office to release to the press such graphie video in this particular ease. ‘Thus, your request for release is denied. CAD reports, on the other hand, are not required by law to be made or maintained and, in this case, they pertain to a criminal investigation, ‘Thus, the CAD is a criminal investigatory record and exempt from disclosure. Further, as previously stated, these CAD reports contain significantly more information than a CAD normally does. ‘ourt Order On January 30, 2018, the Honorable James Troiano, J.8.C., Assistant Prosecutor Barbara ‘Supa, and the attomeys for the juvenile signed an Order sealing the records you have requested, pursuant to R, 1:38-3(d)(5); R. 5:19-2; and NJ.S.A. 2A:4-60-62. Thus, it would be a violation of the Court’s Order to release the records you requested.In the event of a clarification or appeal, this office reserves the right to raise any other ground for denial not raised in this response, The failure of this office to assert an exception or privilege at this time does not act as a waiver of any grounds for denial. Very truly yours, CHRISTOPHER J. GRAMICCIONI MONMOUTH COUNTY PROSECUTOR ay A Jennife. Y Assistant Brosectitor