Stalcup v. DOD, No. 13-11967, 2015 WL 11967 (D. Mass. Sept. 18, 2015) (Sorokin, J.)

Stalcup v. DOD, No. 13-11967, 2015 WL 11967 (D. Mass. Sept. 18, 2015) (Sorokin, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning 1996 crash of TWA flight 800

Disposition: Granting defendant's motion for summary judgment in part; taking under advisement remainder of defendant's motion for summary judgment, as well as plaintiff's motion for summary judgment

• Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search:  The court holds that "the [Missile Defense Agency ("MDA")] adequately explained its search process and established that the methods used could be reasonably expected to produce the information requested."  "Thus, the MDA has satisfied its obligations under FOIA."  The court finds that, "considered together, [defendant's] three declarations describe 'the scope and method by which the search was conducted,' 'the structure of the agency's file system' and 'the search terms and the type of search performed.'"  "They provide sufficient detail to invoke the presumption that the agency acted in good faith."  The court also rejects plaintiff's "attempt to rebut the presumption" by arguing that there "must have been [records] retained by the MDA."

However, regarding the search in two other offices, the court holds that "the content of the affidavits is insufficient to establish that the searches were 'reasonably calculated to discover the requested documents.'"  The court finds that "[t]he affidavits nowhere describe in detail the scope and method by which the search was conducted or the structure of the . . . file system."  Also, "[t]he affidavits do not offer any explanation of why the [locations] searched would be the only [locations] . . . reasonably likely to contain responsive documents."  "In addition, the affidavits fail to set forth the search terms and, in some cases, the type of search performed."