The Colorado Court of Appeals last week reversed a judge’s findings that emails protected from disclosure by the attorney-client and deliberative process privileges are nonetheless available to a “person in interest” under the Colorado Open Records Act.
A three-judge appellate panel wrote that CORA’s plain language does not compel the release of privileged records to someone who is mentioned in the records, contrary to rulings by Larimer County District Court Judge Gregory Lammons concerning emails exchanged among Loveland city officials that discussed a former city paralegal.
The district court’s interpretation “leads to an absurd result,” the Court of Appeals concluded.
See the full article by Jeffrey A. Roberts, October 19, 2022