IL State Police refuse FOIA requests, ask high fees
From Sunshine Review
November 8, 2008
For years the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project has sought records from the police related to cases in which they suspect people have been wrongly convicted, and for years the police have either outright refused the requests, or charged incredible fees. The stonewalling, however, has not caused the Innocence Project give up the fight.[1]
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$50 for CDs, $25 for Cassettes
The Innocence Project has requested audio and video recordings of police interviews with Donald Johnston, whose testimony helped convict Thomas McMillen for murder in 1989. Although Johnston pleaded guilty the Innocence Project wants to hire an expert in false confessions to examine the recordings. The only problem is that Sangamon County Sheriff Neil Williamson is demanding $700 for the records - $50 each for 11 CDs and $25 each for 6 cassette tapes.
State law holds that public agencies cannot charge more than the reproduction costs, and forbids charging anything for compiling and reviewing records that have been requested under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. Williamson assured, "That’s the standard fee we would charge anybody. It’s not that we don’t want to give it to them. I’m relying on information from our counsel.” However, the counsel, assistant state’s attorney Jim Grohne, said the sheriff's office never asked him how much could be charged.[1]
Murder of Karyn Slover
In 1996, Karyn Slover was murdered and her body was dumped into Lake Shelbyville. Her husband and his parents were convicted of the murder. For two years the Innocence Project has sought records on an unidentified fingerprint that was found on a guardrail, inches from Slover's blood.
State police refused to say if the fingerprint had been checked against the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, a database with fingerprints of known felons. They also refused to turn over lab notes on the fingerprint or say what types of fingerprints can be used with AFIS.[1]
Reasons change
When the Innocence Project first made the request in 2006, police gave three reasons for declining the request - first, the disclosure would deprive a person of the right to a fair trial, second, it would obstruct an ongoing criminal investigation, and third, it would interfere with a law enforcement proceeding.[1] At that time, the Slovers were appealing their case. Last month, the Innocence Project requested the records once more. This time the first two reasons were dropped, but officials insisted that it would interfere with a law enforcement proceeding.
State police attorney John Hosteny said "It’s my understanding that everything they want, they can get through the court process." The Innocence Project argues that they should not have to get a court order for records that can be released under FOIA.[1]
