SR 3: Requesting Bruce M. Botelho, Attorney General of the State of Alaska, to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the possible misuse of the Alaska Public Safety Information Network.
00SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 3 01 Requesting Bruce M. Botelho, Attorney General of the State of Alaska, to appoint 02 a special prosecutor to investigate the possible misuse of the Alaska Public Safety 03 Information Network. 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE: 05 WHEREAS the Senate Judiciary Committee retained attorney Kenneth Norsworthy 06 to determine whether the Alaska Public Safety Information Network (APSIN), the statewide 07 criminal justice information system, had been misused; and 08 WHEREAS, after investigating the matter, Kenneth Norsworthy concluded in a written 09 report to the Senate Judiciary Committee that 10 (1) investigations by the state troopers uncovered evidence that criminal 11 conduct occurred in connection with some unauthorized APSIN accesses; 12 (2) the trooper investigations were conducted ineffectively and inadequately, 13 with no follow-up interviews even when suspicious information was uncovered and no follow- 14 up even when names of other potential witnesses were given by persons who were
01 interviewed; 02 (3) the criminal screenings on the part of the state prosecutors were inaccurate 03 with respect to some cases due to the inadequate investigative work, incorrect analysis of the 04 significance of discovered facts, and questionable legal interpretations of applicable criminal 05 statutes; 06 (4) evidence was uncovered that suggests circumstantially that unauthorized 07 accesses may have been made for political purposes in two cases, and further investigation 08 would likely have resulted in discovery of direct evidence on this point; and 09 WHEREAS Kenneth Norsworthy found from certain notes made during protocol 10 meetings attended by state prosecutors, troopers, and an assistant attorney general that protocol 11 was developed specifically to handle the APSIN investigation in a manner different from 12 normal, routine criminal investigations and that it may have been decided that the investigation 13 would not be conducted like a criminal investigation at all; and 14 WHEREAS Kenneth Norsworthy, in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, 15 noted that the state's investigation did not focus on uncovering instances where APSIN was 16 used at the request of a third party, but the fact that this may have occurred was revealed 17 several times in interviews; and 18 WHEREAS the senate is concerned that state officers and employees, as well as other 19 individuals, may have used APSIN in violation of law; and 20 WHEREAS the Department of Law is not sufficiently independent to conduct an 21 investigation of the possible misuse of APSIN because state officers and employees may have 22 been involved; and 23 WHEREAS it has been determined in State v. Breeze, 873 P.2d (Alaska 1994) that 24 the state attorney general has the authority to appoint a special prosecutor; 25 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Senate respectfully and urgently requests 26 Bruce M. Botelho, Attorney General of the State of Alaska, to appoint a special prosecutor 27 to investigate the possible misuse of the Alaska Public Safety Information Network and to 28 bring any criminal charges that may be appropriate. 29 A COPY of this resolution shall be sent to Bruce M. Botelho, Attorney General.