United States v. Viola, No. 08-506, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94780 (N.D. Ohio July 21, 2015) (Nugent, J.)

United States v. Viola, No. 08-506, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94780 (N.D. Ohio July 21, 2015) (Nugent, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning plaintiff

Disposition: Denying plaintiff's motion for reconsideration

• Litigation Considerations, Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies:  The court holds that "any lawsuit alleging a failure by the FBI to respond within the statutory time frame should be filed as a new civil action pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act."  The court finds that this issue is not "properly before this Court as part of the criminal case that this Court has been assigned to oversee."  The court explains that "[b]ecause there has been no adverse determination by the FBI on [plaintiff's] remanded request, there is not yet any adverse decision for the [OIP] Office to review."  "If the FBI refuses the request, an appeal may then be taken to the OIP Office."  "If the FBI takes longer than the statutorily permitted amount of time to respond, post-remand, the Freedom of Information Act provides that requesters may file a lawsuit pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(C)(I)."