Rivera filed suit claiming the right of access to the report in whole or in part, again under OPRA and the common law. The prosecutor and the city of Elizabeth, as intervenor, defended based on the personnel records exemption under § 10 of OPRA, the privacy interests of the complainants and witnesses, and the “chilling effect” release of that kind of information would have on future internal investigations.
The trial judge concluded that the complete internal affairs report should be provided in accordance with provisions of OPRA, subject to prior in camera review for redaction purposes. That ruling made it unnecessary for the court to reach the common law issue.
