Plunkett v. DOJ, No. 11-341, 2016 WL 4487728 (D.D.C. Aug. 24, 2016) (Moss, J.)

Plunkett v. DOJ, No. 11-341, 2016 WL 4487728 (D.D.C. Aug. 24, 2016) (Moss, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning defendant's criminal prosecution and conviction

Disposition: Granting in part and denying in part defendant's renewed motion for summary judgment

• Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search: The court holds that "[t]he Department is now entitled to summary judgment on the adequacy of its searches for responsive records." The court notes that defendant has clarified earlier confusion. "Given [defendant's declarant's] attestation that she found only three binders containing responsive material in January 2014, the Court is now persuaded that, although [her] recollection is not complete, it is most likely that there were in fact only three binders containing material potentially responsive to Plaintiff’s FOIA request."
   
• Procedural Requirements, Consultations and Referrals: "[T]he Court must again deny summary judgment as to [certain] referred records." "[T]he Court cannot discern what happened to [certain] materials not returned from BOP, and which, if any, exemptions are asserted for those records." "The Court still is left to guess about the disposition of the records that BOP did not return to EOUSA." "And, if the Department now contends that all potentially responsive documents were returned to EOUSA, it needs to submit factual support for that assertion."
   
• Procedural Requirements, "Reasonably Segregable" Obligation: "The Court concludes from its review of the actual pages that all reasonably segregable portions of [certain] search warrants and affidavits were released to Plaintiff."