Judge rejects penalties for MUSTANG drug task force

A Cole County judge said a mid-Missouri drug task force did not violate open records law when it redacted parts of a man’s request.

Judge Patricia Joyce made the ruling on Wednesday in Aaron Malin’s lawsuit against the MUSTANG Drug Task Force. The law enforcement group operates in mid-Missouri, including Boone, Callaway, Cole and Cooper counties.

Malin sued the task force in May 2015 over redactions the group’s custodian of records made on several of his requests. Joyce held a bench trial over the issue on March 10, 2017.

Joyce ruled that no member of the group “knowingly or purposefully” violated the state’s Sunshine Law and that the law gives them authority to redact certain information.

Michael Berry, the attorney for the task force, said he was happy for the law enforcement officers that contribute to the group. He said many of their records need to be protected due to the sensitive nature of many of their investigations.

Malin has sued several drug task forces throughout the state, recently winning two of them. Judge Rachel Bringer Shepard found that the East Central Drug Task Force did violate the Sunshine Law in Malin’s case in northeast Missouri, but the judge neither awarded him any attorneys fees nor did she fine the task force.

David Roland, Malin’s lawyer, said he would most likely ask Joyce to reconsider parts of her decision. If she would not, he would most likely appeal the decision.