Man demands Cole prosecutor pay for not disclosing records
A man seeking records of communications between the Cole County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and a drug task force asked a judge to reprimand the office for not disclosing the documents, continuing a yearslong open records battle.
An attorney for Aaron Malin of St. Louis filed a motion Wednesday for civil contempt because they say the office has demonstrated “ongoing disobedience” of previous court orders by not turning over documents requested under the government transparency, or sunshine, law.
Below is the motion for civil contempt filed by Malin’s attorney, Dave Roland.
“I’ve waited four years for these documents,” Roland said. “Just hand them over!”
In 2015, Malin made a request under sunshine law to the county prosecuting attorney’s office, which was led by Mark Richardson at the time. Among the requested documents was all messages exchanged between the office and the MUSTANG drug task force.
Richardson denied the request, which prompted Malin to file a lawsuit. In October 2017, a Cole County circuit judge ordered Richardson to produce the documents and pay more than $12,000 for not following open records law.
In an appeal, Richardson argued that he was not required to disclose the records.
In January, Locke Thompson replaced Richardson as county prosecutor.
An appellate judge disagreed, and in January ordered the office to produce the documents and pay both the fee and attorney’s cost for Malin. In total the Cole County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, through county taxpayers, paid Malin more than $35,000.
Roland told ABC 17 News on Wednesday that he has been in communication with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Thompson’s office turned over documents earlier this week. But Roland said he has not received office communications with the MUSTANG task force, which was the key aspect of the initial request.
“We’re trying to be as reasonable as we can as far as the burden on taxpayers, but it is absolutely inexcusable that they have not yet complied with the court orders,” Roland said.
“Nobody is trying to avoid providing Mr. Malin with the documents he seeks,” said Michael Berry, an attorney representing the prosecuting attorney’s office under Thompson.
In a statement to ABC 17 News, Berry acknowledged that the records exist. He added they were “generated and stored by Mr. Thompson’s predecessor.”
“Mr. Malin also acknowledges that representatives of the Prosecutor’s office have provided Mr. Malin’s counsel with many of these documents and those efforts remain ongoing.”
Roland’s motion for civil contempt demands Thompson and the office waive all fees for the request and pay attorney’s fees, as well as an additional fee until the documents are produced.
A motion hearing is scheduled for July 1 in Judge Patricia Joyce’s courtroom.
