Washington Supreme Court Holds Victim Impact Statements and Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative Evaluations May Be Disclosed
Washington Supreme Court Holds Victim Impact Statements and Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative Evaluations May Be Disclosed
On September 27, 2012, the Supreme Court of Washington held that Victim Impact Statements and Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative (SSOSA) evaluations may be disclosed under the Public Records Act (PEA), Chapter 42.56 RCW.
David Koenig sought disclosure of the SSOSA evaluation and victim impact report filed in a Washington State criminal cause. The PRA disclosure requests were sent to the court clerk and prosecuting attorney. After a hearing in which the judge sealed both documents from public disclosure to protect the privacy of the defendant and victim, the requests were refused. Koenig then filed a public disclosure complaint.
The trial court ruled that both records were exempt from disclosure under RCW 42.56.240(1), the investigative records exemption. Koenig appealed.
The appeals court held that the victim impact statement was exempt and the SSOSA evaluation was not. Koenig appealed to the Supreme Court.
The en banc Supreme Court noted that reviewing courts should interpret disclosure provisions of the PEA liberally and exemptions narrowly. It then held that the victim impact statement was a communication between a victim and a court and not "designed to ferret out criminal activity or to shed light on some other allegation of malfeasance" as is required for it to be an investigative record. "Because the victim impact statement is not part of a prosecutor's investigation into criminal activity or alleged malfeasance, the investigative records exemption does not apply."
Similarly, the Supreme Court held that the SSOSA evaluation, although it may play some part in the sentencing, was not an investigative record entitled to exemption. Therefore, the decision of the court of appeals was reversed in so far as it found victim impact statements exempt from disclosure and affirmed in that it found SSOSA evaluations not to be exempt. See: Koenig v. Thurston County, 287 P.3d 523 (Wash. 2012).
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Related legal case
Koenig v. Thurston County
| Year | 2012 |
|---|---|
| Cite | 287 P.3d 523 (Wash. 2012) |
| Level | State Supreme Court |
| Conclusion | Bench Verdict |