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Murphy v. Executive Office for United States Attorneys, No. 13-0573, 2013 WL 6384536 (D.D.C. December 6, 2013) (Huvelle, J.)

Date
Re: Request for records concerning two grand juries Disposition: Granting in part and denying in part defendant's motion for summary judgment
  • Procedural Requirements:  The court holds that "the FOIA does not require an agency to assure the accuracy of records prior to their release."  The court explains that "even if plaintiff has shown inaccuracies in the released documents, such inaccuracies are immaterial to the disclosure question."
  • Procedural Requirements, Adequacy of Search:  The court finds that "[t]he fact that the released documents may not reflect what plaintiff surmises they should or 'that a particular document was not found does not demonstrate the inadequacy of a search.'"
  • Exemption 3:  The court "den[ies] summary judgment to defendant on its invocation of exemption 3."  The court finds that, regarding its withholding of "'the times that the grand juries convened,'" defendant "fails to explain how releasing the requested information could possibly reveal a secret aspect of the grand jury investigation, and arguably is contradicted by defendant's release of the dates the grand jury convened and returned an indictment."  The court explains that "[d]efendant's declaration simply fails to demonstrate a 'logical connection between the [withheld grand jury] information and the claimed exemption.'"
  • Exemption 7(C):  The court finds that "[p]laintiff has not contested . . . and, therefore, has conceded defendant's argument that it properly invoked FOIA exemption 7(C) to protect the identity of grand jury witnesses."
Court Decision Topic(s)
Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search
District Court opinions
Exemption 3
Exemption 7(C)
Procedural Requirements, Supplemental to Main Categories
Updated August 6, 2014