Nelson v. U.S., No. 15-1696, 2016 WL 2851880 (M.D. Pa. May 16, 2016) (Conner, C.J.)

Nelson v. U.S., No. 15-1696, 2016 WL 2851880 (M.D. Pa. May 16, 2016) (Conner, C.J.)

Re: Request for records concerning plaintiff's criminal proceedings

Disposition: Adopting Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation; granting defendant's motion for summary judgment

• Procedural Requirements, Searching for Responsive Records:  "[T]he court find[s] [the Magistrate Judge's] analysis to be thorough, well-reasoned, and fully supported by the record, and find[s] [plaintiff's] objection . . . to be without merit."  The Magistrate Judge previously found that "[t]he record reveals that the United States Attorney's office promptly reviewed its records to identify potential locations where responsive documents might be maintained; it assigned the Assistant United States Attorney in charge of [plaintiff's] investigation to review those files together with [plaintiff's] request; and the United States Attorney's office has represented in a reasonably detailed affidavit that it has no responsive records to produce."  Additionally, the Magistrate Judge found that, "to the extent that [plaintiff] now believes that another federal agency may have custody of documents potentially responsive to his FOIA requests, he should address a FOIA request to that agency."  "However, there is no authority for this court to order the United States Attorney's office to do more than it has already represented under oath that it has done, and there is likewise no authority to order that office to retrieve records from a separate law enforcement agency and review them in order to respond further to [plaintiff's] requests."