Drumm v. Freedom of Information Commission

Summary

The court held that the law-enforcement-records exemption applies when a future arrest or prosecution is at least reasonably possible, and that the same standard governs whether the requested information is likely to be used in that action. It rejected both a categorical rule based on an open investigation and a requirement that an arrest or prosecution be probable or certain, and adopted a nonexclusive, fact-specific set of considerations for cold-case investigations. Because the commission applied an unclear or overly demanding standard and made an unsupported finding that no suspect had been identified, the judgment was reversed and the matter was remanded for reconsideration. No separate opinions were filed.