Phillip Weeks Missouri Cases

Phillip Weeks appealed a judgment in favor of the City of St. Louis on his petition to compel the production of traffic stop data under Missouri's Sunshine Law. Weeks claimed the judgment was against the weight of the evidence because the City allegedly withheld responsive records. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the judgment, holding that Weeks failed to cite or apply the necessary four-step analytical framework to demonstrate that the judgment was against the weight of the evidence. The Court also expressly adopted the Houston v. Crider framework for such claims.

Phillip Weeks appealed a judgment in favor of the City of St. Louis, which denied his petition for an injunction to produce records under Missouri's Sunshine Law. Weeks requested traffic stop data in "worksheet" or "Excel workbook" format, but the City responded it had no existing records in that specific format, though it possessed the data in .csv files. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's judgment, concluding that the trial court's finding that the City did not possess an existing record responsive to Weeks' specific request was not against the weight of the evidence.

Phillip Weeks appealed the circuit court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Webster Groves and St. Louis County in his lawsuit alleging violations of Missouri's Sunshine Law. Weeks had requested "raw data files" and "data generated from vehicle stop forms," including Department Serial Numbers (DSNs). The Missouri Supreme Court vacated the circuit court's judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings, holding that while electronically stored raw data can be a public record, the Sunshine Law does not require the creation of new records. The Court found that the summary judgment record was insufficient to determine whether the DSNs were responsive public records, required the creation of a new record, or were exempt from disclosure.

Phillip Weeks appealed the trial court's grant of summary judgment to St. Louis County and the City of Webster Groves regarding his Sunshine Law requests for vehicle stop data. The appellate court affirmed summary judgment for St. Louis County, finding that officer Department Service Numbers (DSNs) were not required under the specific statute Weeks cited. However, the court reversed and remanded the summary judgment for Webster Groves, holding that the city was obligated to provide previously generated vehicle stop records, even if it had discarded its copies, as recreating them was not considered creating a new record under the Sunshine Law.