Any thoughts on this issue: Are videos and photos open records capable of being requested by the public??? Does it matter if they are used as evidence in open court???

Here's an interesting article on a DA in Georgia caught up in a case which has become much more political than legal.


http://ap.lubbockonline.com/pstories/us/20070713/184094109.shtml


The story does not mention that the convict was also charged with another sexual assault stemming from the same party and that some of the jurors convicted him on the lesser charge as a compromise verdict.

Last week we received an open records request for a case that includes kiddie porn videos. The AG wanted us to just make copies and mail it to them because, apparently, "that's what everybody does."

Am I missing something here? Where is our authority to make copies of child pornography and send it through the U.S. mail? Even when I work with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in identifying victims of child porn I have to send my images directly to the postal inspector in Virginia - and I have to give him a heads up first.

By the way, we hand delivered our file to the AG.

Has the AG given you an opinion yet?

The answer to the original question, at least in broad form, is "yes." "Public Information" under the PIA is information collected, assembled or maintained under a law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by a governmental body or by a third party if the governmental body owns the infromation or has a right of access to it. Gov't Code sec. 552.002(a). The statute provides that the "general forms in which the media containing public information exist include ... photgraph, film, tape, ... sound recording, ... and a voice, data, or video representation held in computer memory." Id. at (c). Often, when considering photographic or video evidence in a pending criminal case, the exceptions in sections 552.103 and .108 will apply. If the case involves sexual assault or abuse, there's also a good argument that the victim's privacy interests will implicate section 552.101. There's also the possibility that the court will order non-disclosure, which can make section 552.107 relevant. The "point one-hundred" sections specify those types of public information that may be withheld from disclosure. But you have to ask the AG to bless that withholding, or the info is deemed public and must be released.

If the requested material is child pornography, then I think releasing that to the public is like releasing cocaine that has been used as evidence. I would tell them that if it is released to them (in person, not thru the mail) then I will have them arrested as soon as they walk out of my office with it. I see no other conclusion to such a request.