Court grants public access to report on Canaan police probe unionleader.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from unionleader.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A Grafton County judge has ruled that a newspaper should have access to an internal affairs report into an excessive force complaint against a Canaan police officer, even when the report found in his favor.
In a Dec. 2 ruling, Superior Court Judge Peter Bornstein granted access to a report commissioned by Canaan police following complaints by a local woman charged with resisting arrest and disobeying a police officer.
The case involving former Officer Samuel Provenza is believed to be the first Right-to-Know case involving police files since last spring, when the New Hampshire Supreme Court overturned a 27-year-old precedent and granted access to public employee personnel files if a good reason exists to do so.