R. W. Jones v. James Neil Jennings

This matter comes before us on petition for review by the Municipality of Anchorage and two of its police officers (hereinafter "the municipality") from an order to produce documents relating to the police officers personnel records and internal investigations of citizen complaints. The order was issued pursuant to a discovery request by the plaintiff, James Neil Jennings, in an action for assault and battery, false imprisonment and violations under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988. We granted the petition for review in order to address the following issues: (1) whether documents pertaining to prior citizen complaints, as well as personnel records, are privileged and undiscoverable under Anchorage Municipal Code (AMC) 03.90.040; and (2) whether disclosure of personnel records and prior citizen complaints would contravene the officers right to privacy under the Alaska Constitution. We conclude that the information sought by the respondent is neither privileged nor is its disclosure violative of the Alaska Constitution.