Boyd v. Exec. Office for U.S. Attorneys

87 F.Supp.3d 58

Willie E. Boyd, Plaintiff

v.Executive Office for United States Attorneys, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 13–1304 ABJ

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed March 31, 2015

Willie E. Boyd, Lexington, KY, pro se.

Peter Rolf Maier, U.S. Attorney's Office, Washington, DC, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

AMY BERMAN JACKSON, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Willie E. Boyd brings this pro se action against defendants the Executive Office for United States Attorney (“EOUSA”) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (“ATF”) under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”). All parties have moved for summary judgment. See Defs.' Renewed Mot. for Summ. J. [Dkt. # 20] (“Defs.' Mot.”); Mem. in Supp. of Defs.' Mot. [Dkt. # 20–3] (“Defs.' Mem.”); Pl.'s Opp. to Defs.' Mot. & Cross–Mot. for Summ. J. [Dkt. # 29] (“Pl.'s Mot.”). For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant defendants' motion in part and deny it in part, it will grant plaintiff's motion in part and deny it in part, and it will remand the case to defendants for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff is a federal prisoner confined at the Federal Correctional Institute in Greenville, Illinois. See Compl. [Dkt. # 1] at 1.¹ In 1998, plaintiff was convicted of multiple criminal offenses, including gun and drug charges, after a bench trial in the Eastern District of Missouri. See United States v. Boyd, 180 F.3d 967, 974–75 (8th Cir.1999). The conviction was affirmed on appeal. Id. at 983.

Since 1998, plaintiff has filed numerous pro se FOIA actions in this District against the defendants in this case and other government agencies. See, e.g., Boyd v. Exec. Office for U.S. Atty's, 741 F.Supp.2d 150 (D.D.C.2010) ; Boyd v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives, 496 F.Supp.2d 167 (D.D.C.2007) ; Boyd v. Criminal Div., U.S. Dep't of Justice, No. 04–cv–1100 (ESH), 2005 WL 555412, at *1 (D.D.C. March 9, 2005) (FOIA lawsuit against the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Probation Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, the U.S. Parole Commission, the U.S. Marshals Service, and EOUSA); see also Boyd v. Criminal Div. of U.S. Dep't of Justice, 475 F.3d 381, 384–85, 392 (D.C.Cir.2007) (describing plaintiff's history of FOIA litigation and affirming Boyd, 2005 WL 555412 ).

Plaintiff has also filed numerous pro se petitions in other courts attacking his criminal conviction.See, e.g., Boyd v. Walton, No. 13–cv–651–CJP, 2014 WL 128341, at *1 (S.D.Ill. Jan. 14, 2014) (noting that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri no longer accepts filings from Boyd related to his closed criminal case and his closed 28 U.S.C. § 2255 case because of his “history of filing a multitude of motions for reconsideration, rehearing, or the like”; that plaintiff had filed “at least six post-conviction petitions in this District”; and that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit had issued sanctions against plaintiff “[b]ecause of his repeated raising of the same frivolous claim”) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).

This case involves three more FOIA requests submitted by plaintiff to defendants EOUSA and ATF.

I. Plaintiff's March 26, 2013 FOIA Request to EOUSA

On March 26, 2013, plaintiff submitted a FOIA request to EOUSA that sought “any and all documents, records and information in [his] criminal case United States v. Willie E. Boyd, 4:97CR301, in the Eastern District of Missouri.” App. “Count I” to Compl. at ECF 8.² Plaintiff further stated that he sought “information from the criminal case file that would expose the bad-faith nondisclosure of Brady/Giglio/Jencks and Rule 16 materials and information of governmental misconduct with the didcovery [sic] materials in the case.” Id.

On April 22, 2013, EOUSA acknowledged plaintiff's FOIA request and advised him that it was searching for responsive records. See Decl. of David Luczynski [Dkt. # 20–5] (“1st Luczynski Decl.”) ¶ 5; Ex. B to 1st Luczynski Decl. [Dkt. # 20–6] at 1; Pl.'s Statement of Material Facts in Opp. to Defs.' Mot. [Dkt. # 28] ¶ 4.

On May 3, 2013, plaintiff sent a letter “to inform EOUSA that there had been a request also for documents and information in its files on Bryant Troupe that should be disclosed,” as well as “documents and information on Bryant Troupe that appear in the April 15, 1998 discovery disclosure letter that had allegedly been hand-delivered to Trial Counsel Carl Epstein by the Government's counsel.” Ex. D to 1st Luczynski Decl. [Dkt. # 20–6] at 1.

On February 27, 2014, EOUSA disclosed to plaintiff 201 pages of responsive records in full and 267 pages with redactions. 1st Luczynski Decl. ¶ 8; Pl.'s Mot. at 4. In addition, EOUSA informed plaintiff that it was withholding 139 responsive pages under FOIA Exemptions 3, 5, 6, and 7(C). 1st Luczynski Decl. ¶ 8; Pl.'s Mot. at 4. EOUSA also stated that it had referred an unspecified number of records to other components of the government—ATF, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”), the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”), and the U.S. Marshals Service (“USMS”)—for further processing. Ex. E to 1st Luczynski Decl. [Dkt. # 20–6] at 2; see also 1st Luczynski Decl. ¶ 8. Finally, EOUSA informed plaintiff of his right to appeal its determination, but he did not do so.³ Luczynski Decl. ¶¶ 8–9; Ex. E to 1st Luczynski Decl. at 2.

II. Plaintiff's March 26, 2013 FOIA Request to ATF

On March 26, 2013, plaintiff submitted a FOIA request to ATF, seeking “any and all documents, records and information associated with” his name or identification number, and specifying that the relevant records “are all associated with the [ATF] Case File # 745519–190012, from the criminal prosecution of the case United States v. Boyd, 4:97CR301, from the Eastern District of Missouri.” App. “Count 2” to Compl. at ECF 79. In addition, plaintiff stated: “The requester specifically seek [sic] documents and information in its files of the government's paid informant Bryant Troupe, and his working relation with ATF Agent James Green.”Id.

On April 22, 2013, ATF acknowledged plaintiff's FOIA request and advised him that it would begin processing his request for information relating to himself. Decl. of Stephanie M. Boucher, Chief, Disclosure Division, ATF [Dkt. # 20–7] (“Boucher Decl.”) ¶ 5; Ex. B to Boucher Decl. [Dkt. # 20–8] at 1 (letter from Boucher to plaintiff). The agency informed plaintiff, though, that it would not process the portions of his request that sought information about third parties because, pursuant to the Privacy Act, “[r]ecords pertaining to a third party generally cannot be released without the express authorization and written consent of the third party, proof of death of the third party, or a clear demonstration that the public interest in the disclosure outweighs the personal privacy interest of the third party.” Ex. B to Boucher Decl. at 1. The agency stated that because plaintiff had provided no evidence that he had the right to access third-party records, it could not disclose the information he sought. Id.

Plaintiff responded to the agency's letter on May 3, 2013, conveying his view that FOIA Exemptions 7(C) and 7(D) did not apply to the information he sought about Bryant Troupe “[b]ecause the Government has waived any privacy interest in nondisclosure by being involved in misconduct with Bryant Troupe, and deliberately concealing discovery materials of misconduct with Troupe.” Ex. C to Boucher Decl. [Dkt. # 20–8] at 1. Plaintiff also alleged that “Bryant Troupe had been utilized in a covert operation in the investigation of Willie Boyd.” Id.

On August 30, 2013, ATF informed plaintiff that it would take no further action on his FOIA request because the records he sought had “already been subject to the full process contemplated by the FOIA (i.e. initial processing, agency appeal and judicial review,[) ] and all of [his] arguments ha[d] been fully considered therein.” Ex. D to Boucher Decl. [Dkt. # 20–8] at 1.

On February 21, 2014, the ATF received a referral of records from the EOUSA. Boucher Decl. ¶ 8. ATF's Disclosure Division determined that all of the referred records had also “been subject to the full process contemplated by the FOIA,” and so they were not subject to release. Id. ¶ 9; Ex. F to Boucher Decl. [Dkt. # 20–8] at 1. On March 14, 2014, ATF informed plaintiff that, for this reason, it would take no further action on his FOIA request and that it considered the matter closed. Ex. F to Boucher Decl. at 1.

III. Plaintiff's December 3, 2013 FOIA Request to EOUSA

On December 3, 2013, plaintiff submitted another FOIA request to EOUSA. App. to Am. Compl. [Dkt. # 16] at ECF 4–5. This request sought “any and all document [sic] and information in the files of EOUSA on Bobby Garrett,” whom plaintiff described as a “former rogue St. Louis Police Officer ... who was indicted and convicted in United States v. Bobby Lee Garrett. ” Id. Plaintiff specified in great detail the information he was looking for with respect to Garrett, which included:

Any investigations of his wrongdoing or governmental corruption by Garrett. How many defendants had been released based on the corruption by Bobby Garrett and others. How many cases Bobby Garrett testified in on behalf of the Government. Any and all complaints filed against Bobby Garrett about his corruption in the files of the Government. Requesting information about search warrants found to be invalid based on wrongdoing by Bobby Garrett. The amount of cash money illegally taken by Bobby Garrett from citizens while he was acting as an [sic] St. Louis Police Officer.

Id. Plaintiff also sought information about defendants who had been exonerated “doing [sic] to Bobby Garrett being exposed as a corrupt cop,” public records on Garrett, a list of properties Garrett had illegally entered, and information about the relationship between Garrett and Bryant Troupe. Id. at ECF...