SALVATORE J. MORETTI VS. BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE (GOVERNMENT RECORDS COUNCIL) ( 2019 )


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  •                                 NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
    APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
    This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the
    internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.
    SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
    APPELLATE DIVISION
    DOCKET NO. A-2807-16T3
    SALVATORE J. MORETTI,
    Appellant,
    v.
    BERGEN COUNTY
    PROSECUTOR'S
    OFFICE,
    Respondent.
    _____________________________
    Submitted December 11, 2018 – Decided January 9, 2019
    Before Judges Suter and Firko.
    On appeal from the New Jersey Government Records
    Council, GRC Complaint No. 2015-390.
    Salvatore J. Moretti, appellant pro se.
    Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt & Cappelli, LLC, attorneys
    for respondent Bergen County Prosecutor's Office
    (Craig P. Bossong and Michael J. Marotta, on the brief).
    Gurbir S. Grewal, Attorney General, attorney for
    respondent Government Records Council (Cameryn J.
    Hinton, Deputy Attorney General, on the statement in
    lieu of brief).
    PER CURIAM
    Appellant Salvatore Moretti appeals from two orders issued by the
    Government Records Council (GRC) denying his requests for the disclosure of
    documents pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA),
    N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 to -12, and the common law right of access (CLROA). We
    affirm, substantially for the reasons set forth in the written decision of the GRC.
    At issue here are two separate requests for documents made in November
    2015. Appellant made the first of these requests to respondent, Bergen County
    Prosecutor's Office (BCPO), seeking hardcopies via U.S. mail of "records" the
    BCPO has which would be helpful in continuing to live in Bergen County. In
    his second request, appellant sought "records for supporting materials so [he]
    does not become a victim of a municipal property seizure."
    In response to appellant's request, the records custodian for the BCPO
    certified in a timely fashion on January 4, 2016, that access was denied because
    no specific government records were identified and a custodian did not have to
    aid a requester in articulating an OPRA request.
    Appellant filed a Denial of Access Complaint with the GRC seeking the
    following:
    A-2807-16T3
    2
    1. All tax records as to reports on assessments due to
    arsons and felonies;
    2. All felonies committed at 387 Park Street and 340
    through 395 Park Street;
    3. All Citi Bank robbery reports regarding the
    [appellant's] stick-up;
    4. All evidence of conflicts about the City of
    Hackensack from 1958 through 1999; and
    5. Miscellaneous others stated in this filing.
    GRC's counsel sent a written response to appellant denying both requests,
    stating, "the two OPRA requests generically seek 'records' that would aid him,
    thus rendering the requests invalid because they seek unspecified documents
    rather than specifically named or identifiable government records." Counsel
    further stated: "The [c]ustodian had no legal duty to research her records to
    locate those potentially responsive to either of the [appellant's] requests." Legal
    authority was cited to support that statement.
    In January 2017, the GRC Executive Director determined the requests
    were invalid and was satisfied that the custodian lawfully denied access for the
    reasons previously stated by GRC counsel, adding: "The [appellant] seemed to
    narrow the requests in his Denial of Access Complaint. However, these [five]
    items fail to cure any deficiencies present in the actual requests. Additionally,
    A-2807-16T3
    3
    it is implausible that the [c]ustodian could have gleaned these items from the
    requests at issue."
    In February 2017, appellant filed a request for reconsideration of the
    GRC's final decision claiming a "change in circumstances, extraordinary
    circumstances, fraud, illegality, mistake, and new evidence" warranted same. In
    denying the reconsideration request, the GRC found that appellant failed to
    establish that it "acted arbitrarily, capriciously or unreasonably," and he "failed
    to provide any new or additional arguments as to why his request was somehow
    valid." This appeal followed.
    We agree with the GRC's analysis and conclusion that the BCPO was not
    required to provide documents in response to appellant's overbroad first and
    second requests. The GRC found that the custodian appropriately denied access
    to appellant's "voluminous, but rambling OPRA requests" that "failed to identify
    government records," and did so in a timely manner. In support of its decision,
    the GRC cited the holding of this court that, "a custodian does not have to aid a
    requester to reshape an invalid OPRA request into a valid one." Lagerkvist v.
    Governor of N.J., 
    443 N.J. Super. 230
    , 237 (App. Div. 2015).
    On appeal, appellant argues:
    A-2807-16T3
    4
    POINT I.
    THE BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
    ENGAGED IN ABUSE OF PROCESS, THEREBY
    PREVENTING APPELLANT FROM EARNING A
    LIVING.
    POINT II.
    BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR MOLINELLI
    AND INVESTIGATOR MORDAGA ENGAGED IN
    CRIMINAL MAINTENANCE AND LITIGATION
    FUNDING,    CONFISCATING APPELLANT'S
    REALTY IN HACKENSACK.
    POINT III.
    THE BCPO VIOLATED APPELLANT'S CIVIL
    RIGHTS, PROTECTED BY 
    42 U.S.C. §§ 1483
     &
    1485, AND N.J. STAT. ANN. § 10:6-1 TO 2, THE N.J.
    CIVIL RIGHTS ACT.
    POINT IV.
    THE BCPO DID NOT ENGAGE IN CLASSIC
    PROSECUTORIAL ACTS IN THE CASE AT BAR.
    POINT V.
    THE BCPO AND MORDAGA ARE IN VIOLATION
    OF N.J.S.A. 2A:170-83, BY SOLICITING DINNALL
    TO SUE THEREBY RECEIVING A PERCENTAGE
    OF THE RECOVERY.
    POINT VI.
    THE BCPO AND MORDAGA BY FORCING OUT
    BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF JOSEPH CICCONE
    A-2807-16T3
    5
    AND HACKENSACK POLICE CHIEF CHARLES
    "KEN" ZISA HAVE ACCELERATED THE NUMBER
    OF HOME FORFEITURES, THEREBY FAILING TO
    ACT UNDER COLOR OF LAW.
    POINT VII.
    THE BCPO AND MORDAGA ARE ENGAGING IN
    LITIGATION    FINANCING   WHICH   HAS
    RESULTED   IN    THE  BANKRUPTING  OF
    ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.
    These arguments lack merit. A reviewing court "will not upset an agency's
    ultimate determination unless the agency's decision is shown to have been
    'arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable, or not supported by substantial credible
    evidence in the records as whole.'" Barrick v. State, 
    218 N.J. 247
    , 259 (2014)
    (quoting In re Stallworth, 
    208 N.J. 182
    , 194 (2011)).          The "court owes
    substantial deference to the agency's expertise and superior knowledge of a
    particular field. Deference controls even if the court would have reached a
    different result in the first instance." In re Herrmann, 
    192 N.J. 19
    , 28 (2007).
    "[O]ur courts give 'great deference' to an agency's 'interpretation of statutes
    within its scope of authority and its adoption of rules implementing' the laws for
    which it is responsible." Hargrove v. Sleepy's, LLC, 
    220 N.J. 289
    , 302 (2015)
    (citations omitted).   The judiciary should not interfere unless an agency's
    determination is "patently incompatible with the language and spirit of the law."
    A-2807-16T3
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    In re Hudson City. Prob. Dep't., 
    178 N.J. Super. 362
    , 371 (App. Div. 1981)
    (internal citations and quotations omitted).
    GRC decisions are governed by the same legal principles, and are
    therefore subject to the same standards of deference and review as any other
    state agency, Paff v. Galloway Twp., 
    229 N.J. 340
    , 356 n.7 (2017), meaning an
    agency's determination will not be upset unless it is affirmatively shown that it
    is arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable, or that it lacks fair support in the record.
    Karins v. City of Atl. City, 
    152 N.J. 532
    , 540 (1998); see also Fisher v. Div. of
    Law, 
    400 N.J. Super. 61
    , 70 (App. Div. 2008).
    Requests for public records may be made under OPRA, or pursuant to the
    common law. OPRA provides that "all government records shall be subject to
    public access unless exempt . . . ."           N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.     OPRA defines
    government records as:
    any paper, written or printed book, document, drawing,
    map, plan, photograph, microfilm, data processed or
    image processed document, information stored or
    maintained electronically or by sound-recording or in a
    similar device, or any copy thereof, that has been made,
    maintained or kept on file in the course of his or its
    official business by any officer, commission, agency or
    authority of the State or of any political subdivision
    thereof, including subordinate boards thereof, or that
    has been received in the course of his or its official
    business by any such officer, commission, agency, or
    authority of the State or of any political subdivision
    A-2807-16T3
    7
    thereof, including subordinate boards thereof. The
    terms shall not include inter-agency or intra-agency
    advisory, consultative, or deliberative material.
    [N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1.]
    The agency bears the burden of showing that the law authorizes the denial
    of access to the documents sought. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6. While OPRA creates a
    vehicle for access to important and useful information, it does not allow for
    "[w]holesale requests for general information to be analyzed, collated an d
    compiled by the responding government entity." N.J. Builders Ass'n v. N.J.
    Council on Affordable Hous., 
    390 N.J. Super. 166
    , 177 (App. Div. 2007)
    (quoting MAG Entm't, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 
    375 N.J. Super. 534
    , 546 (App. Div. 2005)). The GRC's Handbook for Custodians states
    that "[i]f a request does not name specifically identifiable records or is overly
    broad, a custodian may deny access . . . . [An e]xample of an overly broad
    request [would be]: 'Any and all records related to the construction of the new
    high school.''' Government Records Council, The New Jersey Open Public
    Records Act: Handbook for Records Custodians, 19 (5th ed. Jan. 2011).
    Appellant's requests are even broader. We reiterate that, "OPRA does not
    convert a custodian into a researcher . . . ." Lagerkvist, 443 N.J. Super. at 237,
    and conclude that the agency met its burden here.
    A-2807-16T3
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    Further, "the common-law definition of public record is broader than the
    [OPRA] definition." S. N.J. Newspaper v. Twp. of Mt. Laurel, 
    141 N.J. 56
    , 71
    (1995). The definition is met where a record is a: (1) written memorial; (2) made
    by a public officer; (3) that the officer was authorized to make by law. Bergen
    Improvement Auth. v. N. Jersey Media Grp., 370 N.J. Super 504, 518 (App. Div.
    2004). In other words, a common law public record is a record "made by public
    officers in the exercise of public functions." S. N.J. Newspaper, 141 N.J at 72.
    A citizen seeking access to a common law public record must establish an
    interest in the subject matter of the material, and that citizen's right of access
    must be balanced against the government or agency's interest in preventing
    disclosure. Mason v. City of Hoboken, 
    196 N.J. 51
    , 67-68 (2008); Bergen
    County Improvement Auth., 130 N.J. Super. at 519. Our Supreme Court has
    articulated several factors to consider while balancing these interests, including:
    (1) the extent to which disclosure will impede agency
    functions by discouraging citizens from providing
    information to the government; (2) the effect disclosure
    may have upon persons who have given such
    information, and whether they did so in reliance that
    their identities would not be disclosed; (3) the extent to
    which agency self-evaluation, program improvement,
    or other decision[-]making will be chilled by
    disclosure; (4) the degree to which the information
    sought includes factual data as opposed to evaluative
    reports of policymakers; (5) whether any findings of
    public misconduct have been insufficiently corrected
    A-2807-16T3
    9
    by remedial measures instituted by the investigative
    agency; and (6) whether any agency disciplinary or
    investigatory proceedings have arisen that may
    circumscribe the individual's asserted need for the
    materials.
    [S. Jersey Publ'g. Co. v. N.J. Expressway Auth., 
    124 N.J. 478
    , 488 (1991) (quoting Loigman v. Kimmelman,
    
    102 N.J. 98
    , 112 (1986)).]
    Appellant has failed to satisfy any of these criteria.      Calling for the
    custodian to research and compile BCPO records in order to attempt to comply
    with appellant's requests here was clearly overbroad. See MAG, 
    375 N.J. Super. at 549-50
    . Such broad requests require a custodian "to manually search through
    all of the [files], analyze, compile and collate the information contained therein
    . . . ."   
    Id. at 549
    . We do not require an agency to do the research and
    investigation appellant was required to do. 
    Ibid.
     Because appellant's document
    requests were vague, generic, and failed to identify with any specificity the
    records he sought, his OPRA and common law requests were lawfully denied,
    and the denial of access was proper.
    We find insufficient merit in appellant's other arguments to warrant
    further discussion in a written opinion. R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(D).
    Affirmed.
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