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Phelan v. City of Mount Rainier8/22/2002
ircumstances of this incident, i.e., irrelevant." We review the trial court's denial of discovery orders for an abuse of discretion. Kay v. Pick, 711 A.2d 1251, 1256 (D.C. 1998) (citing In re Q.D.G., 706 A.2d 36 (D.C. 1998)) (other citation omitted). "The trial court has broad discretion to weigh the factors in deciding whether discovery should be compelled." Id.
Appellant contends that the trial court failed to apply the proper standard for determining the need for access to the requested documents and that its decision was unreasonable and arbitrary. Appellant argues that the record reflects that there were some complaints against Thompson for which no documentation was provided during discovery. Appellant then refers specifically to "a couple of civilian complaints" mentioned in a letter from the Deputy Chief of Police to the Police Chief in which he outlined a series of problems which supported his recommendation that Officer Thompson's promotion be rescinded. While Officer Thompson testified in deposition that the only complaint he was aware of was made by a lady who complained that he had threatened to arrest her, and appellant deposed the Deputy Chief of Police, appellant contends that documentation of the complaint should have been provided. Further, appellant argues that the City did not properly claim any privilege with respect to the information, nor did it have any right to do so.
The City argues in response, as it did in the trial court, that it disclosed Officer Thompson's entire personnel file during discovery and that appellant had an opportunity to obtain the information from Officer Thompson during deposition. Further, the City argues, to the extent that disclosure of public records was sought, appellant failed to comply with the statutory requirements for securing such records, including a written application to the custodian of records for inspection of same; and to the extent that internal investigation files were sought, a Maryland statute, Md. Code Ann., art. 27 ยง 728 (b)(5)(iii)(iv) (1957, 1992 Repl. Vol.), prohibits their disclosure.
From the record, it appears that a great deal of information concerning the officer's performance and the officer was disclosed during discovery. This information included, but was not limited to, his personnel file, medical and mental health records, records related to the officer's training, proficiency and usage of weapons, records of his conduct and performance, and documents related to administrative actions. In response to the request for production, the City stated that there were "no documents relating to civilian or departmental review boards because there were no charges preferred nor was Officer Thompson indicted for the actions which give rise to this suit." The City objected to the production of records of its internal investigation because "such documentation constitutes a confidential matter requiring a release signed by Officer Thompson in order to permit disclosure." The City agreed to provide a copy of the District's homicide investigative report as soon as it was received, and subsequently did so. The extent of the City's disclosure of information and documents during discovery, as presented by the parties, was before the motions court when it denied the request for the police complaint log book. On appeal, appellant argues that the trial court abused its discretion in denying the request for the police complaint log book.
We cannot say that the trial court abused its considerable discretion in denying access to the police complaint log book. See Kay, supra, 711 A.2d at 1256 (citations omitted). The City argued in opposition to the motion that the request for the log book was overly broad; that inf
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