Washoe County Second Judicial District Court Judge Kathleen Drakulich last week ordered the City of Reno to produce a log of all evidence used to charge former Washoe County Sheriff’s Sergeant Dennis Carry with seven felonies.
This Is Reno sued the Reno Police Department and city after they refused to turn over records in the case against Carry nearly three years ago. The city’s practice is to deny any records request in cases where there is an ongoing investigation.
However, that practice—adopted by many governmental entities—is inconsistent with public records law and even the case the city lost against the Reno Gazette-Journal in the early 1990s.
Drakulich ruled against This Is Reno in 2022.
“After a hearing, the district court denied Conrad’s petition with respect to the disclosure of the full investigative report,” Nevada Supreme Court judges wrote. “The government may not avoid a lawful public records request by simply providing a blanket statement of factors. These generalized assertions do not explain why the records are confidential or why the record could not be redacted.”
The court overruled Drakulich and remanded the case back to her for a review of the evidence. She ordered the city to produce the evidence log by Wednesday, Dec. 20, and legal counsel for This Is Reno and RPD will then identify which files are sought for public release.
Carry recently pleaded guilty to three of the seven felonies and faces sentencing in April. The city also tried to stall the release of the documents until that hearing, but Drakulich ordered the evidence review for January.
Correction: This Is Reno sued the city in 2021, not 2020 as originally reported.
