SUSSEX MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY A/S/O DAISY CONCEPCION, DIELY PUIG AND DAISY CONCEPCION, APPELLANTS,
v.
JOSEPH RUIZ, APPELLEE
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Sealed or expunged criminal records are not discoverable in civil actions arising from the same facts, even though the underlying events may be discovered through other means.
Sealed or expunged criminal records are not discoverable in civil litigation arising from the same facts that gave rise to the criminal prosecution.
[1] Sealed or expunged criminal records are not discoverable in civil actions arising from the same facts, though the underlying events may be discovered through alternative…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Criminal history records which have been expunged or sealed are not discoverable for the purpose of a civil action against the defendant arising out of the same facts giving rise to the criminal prosecution.”
Court's statement of the governing legal rule regarding sealed records in civil discovery.
Sussex Mutual Insurance Company, as subrogee of insureds, brought an action against Joseph Ruiz for damages allegedly caused by arson. Plaintiffs soug…
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FERGUSON, Judge.
Plaintiffs/appellants brought this action to recover for damages caused, allegedly, by an act of arson. This appeal, after a judgment for the defendant/appellee, is grounded on an interlocutory order which denied plaintiff’s motion to compel production of the defendant’s sealed criminal records.1
Criminal history records which have been expunged or sealed are not discoverable for the purpose of a civil action against the defendant arising out of the same facts giving rise to the criminal prosecution. Such records which have been sealed pursuant to statute are “available only to the subject, his attorney, or to criminal justice agencies for their respective criminal justice purposes.” § 943.-058(3), Fla.Stat. (1983). Even though the records have been sealed or expunged, the events they concern continue to have existence and may be discovered by other means. See City of West Palm Beach v. Meredith, 473 So. 2d 759 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985); Walton v. Turlington, 444 So. 2d 1082 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984).
The order of the trial court which denies plaintiffs’ motion to compel production of the defendant’s sealed criminal record is
AFFIRMED.
. A stated ground in plaintiffs’ motion for new trial was that "[t]he Court ... erred in disallowing certain testimony to be read into the record concerning the investigation made by the expert, W.A. Kennedy, into the arson simply because it mentioned police officers or criminal investigation." That evidentiary ruling is not an issue in this appeal.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Griss v. Honorable Gisela Cardonne, 546 So. 2d 1171 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)…. Jack Griss petitions this court for a writ of prohibition to prevent the trial court from unsealing his criminal record for use in a civil action arising out of the same occurrence. In accordance with our holding in Sussex Mut. Ins. Co. v. Ruiz, 508 So. 2d 424 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987), we grant the petition and vacate the order of the trial court unsealing Griss’s criminal record. See also, § 943.058, Fla.Stat. (Supp.1988). We assume it will be unnecessary for us to issue the writ, Remanded,…
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Resha v. Tucker, 600 So. 2d 16 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)…records, Resha is not entitled to have the records unsealed simply because of his status as a plaintiff in a civil action arising out of the same occurrence. Griss v. Cardonne, 546 So. 2d 1171 (Fla. 3d DCA1989); Sussex Mutual Insurance Co. v. Ruiz, 508 So. 2d 424 (Fla. 3d DCA1987); City of West Palm Beach v. Meredith, 473 So. 2d 759 (Fla. 4th DCA1985); and Walton v. Turlington, 444 So. 2d 1082 (Fla. 1st DCA1984). Katie Tucker’s petition for writ of certio-rari is GRANTED. Resha’s petition for writ of certio…
Authorities Cited
- Walton v. Turlington, 444 So. 2d 1082 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)
- City OF W. Palm Beach v. Meredith, 473 So. 2d 759 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985)