State Bar of Michigan E-Journal Number #58158
Rataj v. City of Romulus
Plaintiff, a Detroit-area attorney, discovered that a Romulus police officer assaulted an unnamed citizen and that the assault was captured on video. Plaintiff issued a FOIA request for records, including the video recording and an unredacted copy of the official incident report. The request was granted in part, denied in part. Ultimately, the Romulus Police Department indicated that the video recording and unredacted report were exempt from disclosure under FOIA. The trial court ruled that the video and unredacted names were exempt from FOIA. The Court of Appeals reversed that ruling.
Click Here for the full text opinion