COURTS
Judge orders APS to release report stemming from former Superintendent Winston Brooks' resignation
Order is latest action in 14-year-old legal battle with the 近距离内射合集 and KOB-TV
Published
Modified
A judge this week ordered Albuquerque Public Schools to release to the public an investigative report related to the 2014 resignation of former superintendent Winston Brooks.
Second Judicial District Judge Nancy Franchini ordered APS to release the report no later than Sept. 11 with the redaction of a single paragraph from the 12-page report.
APS has fought a legal battle for more than a decade to withhold the report sought by the 近距离内射合集 and KOB-TV shortly after Brooks' abrupt resignation. Brooks received a $350,000 taxpayer-funded buyout from APS.
"We're happy that Judge Franchini is acting quickly and that we should have the report in our hands very soon," said Gregory Williams, one of the attorneys who represented the media organizations.
"We're also pleased that, in accordance with the Supreme Court's instructions, the redactions will be minimal, and the public will get the opportunity to see nearly the full report," Williams said.
Journal Managing Editor James Bennett said taxpayers and readers of the newspaper deserve to see the report.
鈥淚 hope the stonewalling ends with this ruling,鈥� Bennett said. 鈥淭he newspaper has been fighting for the public鈥檚 right to know for more than a decade. APS鈥� rising costs of litigation are falling on the shoulders of taxpayers.鈥�
An APS spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment Friday.
The two media organizations filed a lawsuit in 2015 demanding access to the report under the state's Inspection of Public Records Act.
Franchini ruled that APS violated state law and ordered the district to pay $293,625 to the 近距离内射合集 and an additional $118,000 to KOB-TV.
The New Mexico Supreme Court in May directed Franchini to review the document, called the Padilla Report, and redact "matters of opinion" that potentially could be withheld from public inspection.
That Inspection of Public Records Act exception "does not preclude inspection of the purely factual, nonopinion portions" of the report, the court held in its unanimous opinion written by Justice Briana H. Zamora.
In an order filed Thursday, Franchini said she reviewed the Padilla Report and ordered APS to produce nearly the entire document to the Journal and KOB "on or before Sept. 11." She ordered APS to redact only the first paragraph of the report's conclusion.
Brooks became APS superintendent in 2008. His 2014 resignation and settlement agreement, announced by APS just days into the school year, prompted considerable media and public interest at the time, but APS offered little explanation for its decision to prematurely terminate Brooks' contract.
In 2021, Franchini ordered APS to pay $214,000 in attorney fees in addition to an earlier $411,000 judgment against the district.
The New Mexico Court of Appeals in 2024 upheld the district court's financial judgment against APS.
But the Court of Appeals ruled that APS was not required to produce the Padilla Report because it was protected by attorney-client privilege.
The Supreme Court reversed that finding in May, finding "the Padilla Report is predominantly investigative in nature."
