SARSFIELD v. CITY OF MARLBOROUGH

RYA ZOBEL, District Judge

On August 24, 1986, a rape was committed in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Eventually the police investigation focused on plaintiff, Eric Sarsfield, who was charged and on July 14, 1987, convicted. He maintained his claims of innocence throughout the trial, appeals, subsequent incarceration and parole. On August 3, 2000, the conviction was vacated upon a finding of actual innocence based on DNA evidence. Plaintiff has sued a number of Marlborough police officers and the City of Marlborough for violations of his federal constitutional rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and rights under state law.

Plaintiff has moved to compel production of two reports generated by the Marlborough Police Department: a 1970 survey of the Department and a 1989 Report to the City of Marlborough. The City does not seriously dispute their relevance to plaintiff's case against it, but asserts that they are privileged. It argues that the reports were prepared as part of self-critical reviews of the Police Department and its processes. Disclosure would inhibit honest and full participation by knowledgeable persons in the future and thus interfere with such reviews and the decision-making process that relies on the reviews. The parties agree that the law in this area is murky at best. To the extent that a balancing of interests is appropriate, I am persuaded that plaintiff's interest in vindicating his constitutional rights outweighs the interests of the City. It is difficult to see how production of these documents — now 24 and 15 years old, respectively, and perhaps of some historical value — will impede in any way the ability of the Marlborough Police Department to develop analyses in aid of policy decisions in the future.

The motion to compel is allowed.