Grenade Burned Baby Face Emails [Habersham County Sheriffs]

Mr. Rich Jones:

I am in receipt of your email. Sheriff Terrell forwarded it to me, as county
attorney, for a response. I have been tasked with responding to inquiries
and Open Record requests. I will treat your email inquiry as an Open Record
request and provide what information I can at the present time. As you are
aware, the search warrant involved herein was a part of a criminal
investigation and prosecution which to my understanding is still pending.
Pursuant to OCGA Section 50-18-72(a), records of law enforcement and
prosecution agencies are excluded from disclosure requirements during the
pendency of the criminal matter. There is, however, an exception to the
exclusion - the incident report. I can ask the county clerk to send you a
copy of the incident report concerning the service of the search warrant on
May 28 which encompassed the accidental injury to the child. Hopefully, it
will contain most if not all of the information you seek. Otherwise, the
other information cannot be released yet. Even when released, portions will
be redacted to protect the identity of any confidential informants.

As for the emails to Sheriff Terrell, are you asking for all emails or just
the ones concerning this incident? As for the ones concerning this incident,
my answer remains the same: not yet. Additionally, some of the other emails
may involve criminal investigations and cannot be released as well. Please
let me know if you want all the emails that can be released for those four
dates. Also, let me know if you ant a copy of the incident report.

We are all deeply saddened by this terrible accident and our thoughts and
prayers are with the family at this most difficult time. Although the facts
are only beginning to come to light, we expect that when all of them are
made public and the applicable policies are reviewed, it will be determined
that all of the law enforcement officers who were involved acted within the
scope of their training. All appropriate documents will be made public in
due time; however, now seems to be the time that all efforts should be
directed towards the speedy recovery of the injured child.

Donald T. Hunt

County Attorney

Habersham County

Mr. Jones,

Please see the attached incident report in response to your request below. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Crystal Ward
Clerk to the Commission
Habersham County
706-839-0208
cward@habershamga.com

Mr. Jones,

I received an email on August 20, 2014 where in you requested additional information regarding the following:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 8, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.
On Aug. 5, 2014:

Thank you, Crystal.

The Incident Report you sent me states Investigator Stein took pictures of the scene after the incident - those pictures should have been included with the report, pursuant to my original Georgia Open Records Act Request.

Can you please send along those pictures as well? In color if possible, and digital format is preferred.

Thanks again,
Rich Jones

I am happy to comply with your request, however I do not have the records available in my office. I have corresponded with the Sheriff's department and will have the photos available on August 27, 2014. I apologize for this delay, I would just like to allow enough time in retrieve them. I appreciate your patience. Let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Crystal Ward
Clerk to the Commission
706839-0208
cward@habershamga.com<mailto:cward@habershamga.com>

Mr. Jones:

I apologize for the confusion, as I thought you had received my previous response. Due to an on-going criminal investigation by the Department of Justice, the pictures mentioned in the report are not releasable.

O.C.G.A 50-18-72(a)(4) States:

(4) Records of law enforcement, prosecution, or regulatory agencies in any pending investigation or prosecution of criminal or unlawful activity, other than initial police arrest reports and initial incident reports; provided, however, that an investigation or prosecution shall no longer be deemed to be pending when all direct litigation involving such investigation and prosecution has become final or otherwise terminated; and provided, further, that this paragraph shall not apply to records in the possession of an agency that is the subject of the pending investigation or prosecution; and provided, further, that the release of booking photographs shall only be permissible in accordance with Code Section 35-1-18;

Please let me know if you need anything further.

Sincerely,

Crystal Ward
Clerk to the Commission
Habersham County
706-839-0208
cward@habershamga.com

From: requests@muckrock.com [mailto:requests@muckrock.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2014 5:03 AM
To: Crystal Ward
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information Request: Grenade Burned Baby Face Emails [Habersham County Sheriffs]

November 20, 2014
Sheriff's Office
Habersham Co. Sheriff's Office
1000 Detention Drive
Clarkesville, GA 30523

This is a follow up to a previous request:

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 8, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

---

On Aug. 22, 2014:

Mr. Jones,

I received an email on August 20, 2014 where in you requested additional information regarding the following:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 8, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.
On Aug. 5, 2014:

Thank you, Crystal.

The Incident Report you sent me states Investigator Stein took pictures of the scene after the incident - those pictures should have been included with the report, pursuant to my original Georgia Open Records Act Request.

Can you please send along those pictures as well? In color if possible, and digital format is preferred.

Thanks again,
Rich Jones

I am happy to comply with your request, however I do not have the records available in my office. I have corresponded with the Sheriff's department and will have the photos available on August 27, 2014. I apologize for this delay, I would just like to allow enough time in retrieve them. I appreciate your patience. Let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Crystal Ward
Clerk to the Commission
706839-0208
cward@habershamga.com<mailto:cward@habershamga.com<mailto:cward@habershamga.com%3cmailto:cward@habershamga.com>>

---

On Aug. 20, 2014:

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 8, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

---

On Aug. 5, 2014:

Thank you, Crystal.

The Incident Report you sent me states Investigator Stein took pictures of the scene after the incident - those pictures should have been included with the report, pursuant to my original Georgia Open Records Act Request.

Can you please send along those pictures as well? In color if possible, and digital format is preferred.

Thanks again,
Rich Jones

---

On Aug. 4, 2014:

Mr. Jones,

Please see the attached incident report in response to your request below. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Crystal Ward
Clerk to the Commission
Habersham County
706-839-0208
cward@habershamga.com<mailto:cward@habershamga.com>

---

On Aug. 1, 2014:

Mr. Donald T. Hunt

Thank you for your reply. I will respond inline.

> There is, however, an exception to the exclusion - the incident report. I can ask the county clerk to send you a copy of the incident report concerning the service of the search warrant on
May 28 which encompassed the accidental injury to the child. Hopefully, it will contain most if not all of the information you seek. Otherwise, the other information cannot be released yet. Even when released, portions will be redacted to protect the identity of any confidential informants.

Thank you. This document will be appreciated.

> As for the emails to Sheriff Terrell, are you asking for all emails or just the ones concerning this incident? As for the ones concerning this incident, my answer remains the same: not yet. Additionally, some of the other emails may involve criminal investigations and cannot be released as well. Please let me know if you want all the emails that can be released for those four
dates. Also, let me know if you ant a copy of the incident report.

I want all of the emails. As a data journalist, it is important that I get the surrounding emails as well, as they are necessary for a providing context. As interested as I am in the circumstances leading up to this shocking event, I am just as interested in finding the information about how the county has been responding, and what they plan to do to prevent such tragedies from ever occurring again. Redact what you need to, but please send all of the documents which I have requested and am entitled to under the Georgia Open Records Act.

> we expect that when all of them are made public and the applicable policies are reviewed, it will be determined that all of the law enforcement officers who were involved acted within the
scope of their training.

That is for the public, the courts, and ultimately a jury to decide. The first step of that process is, of course, the timely release of these documents. As a personal note, if it is determined that that everybody involved acted "within the scope of their training" and still an innocent baby was horrifically maimed and very nearly murdered, then perhaps there is something wrong with the training.

Eagerly waiting your response,
Rich Jones

---

On July 23, 2014:

Mr. Rich Jones:

I am in receipt of your email. Sheriff Terrell forwarded it to me, as county
attorney, for a response. I have been tasked with responding to inquiries
and Open Record requests. I will treat your email inquiry as an Open Record
request and provide what information I can at the present time. As you are
aware, the search warrant involved herein was a part of a criminal
investigation and prosecution which to my understanding is still pending.
Pursuant to OCGA Section 50-18-72(a), records of law enforcement and
prosecution agencies are excluded from disclosure requirements during the
pendency of the criminal matter. There is, however, an exception to the
exclusion - the incident report. I can ask the county clerk to send you a
copy of the incident report concerning the service of the search warrant on
May 28 which encompassed the accidental injury to the child. Hopefully, it
will contain most if not all of the information you seek. Otherwise, the
other information cannot be released yet. Even when released, portions will
be redacted to protect the identity of any confidential informants.

As for the emails to Sheriff Terrell, are you asking for all emails or just
the ones concerning this incident? As for the ones concerning this incident,
my answer remains the same: not yet. Additionally, some of the other emails
may involve criminal investigations and cannot be released as well. Please
let me know if you want all the emails that can be released for those four
dates. Also, let me know if you ant a copy of the incident report.

We are all deeply saddened by this terrible accident and our thoughts and
prayers are with the family at this most difficult time. Although the facts
are only beginning to come to light, we expect that when all of them are
made public and the applicable policies are reviewed, it will be determined
that all of the law enforcement officers who were involved acted within the
scope of their training. All appropriate documents will be made public in
due time; however, now seems to be the time that all efforts should be
directed towards the speedy recovery of the injured child.

Donald T. Hunt

County Attorney

Habersham County

---

On July 23, 2014:

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 8, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

---

On July 8, 2014:

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Georgia Open Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

Any and all emails sent to and from Joey Terrellon on Tuesday, May 27, 2014, Wednesday, May 28, 2014, Thursday, May 29, 2014, and Friday May 30, 2014.

Additionally, please include any and all reports, rosters, memoranda or other documents mentioning the planning, execution, debriefing and media coverage of any police action taken against the Phonesavanh household during the aforementioned dates. Specifically, please include any references to the SWAT team raid which seriously injured a 19-month-old boy with a stun grenade, as reported by WSB-TV 2 Atlanta.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 3 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Rich Jones

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 12485
PO Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819

PLEASE NOTE the new address as well as the fact that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than MuckRock News) requests might be returned by the USPS as undeliverable.
[http://email.requests.muckrock.com/o/ZD01NTYmaT0yMDE0MTEyMDEwMDMwOC4xOS40NzAzMiU0MDg3NmQ1ZWEwLTJjMTctNDhjMi1iOGVkLTgxNTg3Y2RkZmU0Ny5wcnZ0LmR5bm8ucnQuaGVyb2t1LmNvbSZoPTVlNzIyNDI5MzQ4NmE3NmI2ZTJlYTY4NzU3YTNjNWFlJmNvbW1faWQ9MTA3NTI2JnI9Q1dhcmQlNDBoYWJlcnNoYW1jb3VudHktZ2EubmV0]