From Essick v. County of Sonoma, decided last Wednesday by the California Court of Appeal (Justice Jon Streeter, joined by Presiding Justice Stuart Pollak and Superior Court Judge Tara Desautels):
Following the submission to the County of Sonoma … of a harassment complaint against Mark Essick, the elected sheriff of the County, an independent investigator, Ms. Amy Oppenheimer, conducted an inquiry and prepared a written report. A local newspaper requested that the County release the complaint, the report, and various related documents … pursuant to the California Public Records Act …. Sheriff Essick … [argues, among other things, that] (1) the Oppenheimer Report should be classified as confidential under an exemption to the CPRA, either as a "peace officer[ ]" "personnel record[ ]" or because it constitutes a "report[ ] or findings" relating to a complaint by a member of the public against a peace officer …. We disagree ….
The court released a redacted version of the opinion, though it said an unredacted version will be sealed within a month; the redacted facts are so heavily redacted that I'm omitting them here, and focusing on the legal analysis:
