KING
v.
CLARK

M.D. Fla. | 2021-03-25
No. 8:20-cv-1233
District Court, M.D. Florida (2021) Negative Treatment
Cited by 32 cases

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Holding

The court held that exceptional circumstances justified compelling the production of unredacted 911 audio recordings and CAD notes, despite statutory exemptions.


Facts & Procedural History

Defendants in a personal injury action moved to compel the Florida Highway Patrol to produce unredacted computer aided dispatch (CAD) notes and 911 au…

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Opinion of the Court

Defendants Jamond Clark and Stevens Transport, Inc. (collectively, the defendants) move for an order compelling the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) to produce unredacted computer aided dispatch (CAD) notes and 911 audio recordings related to the accident at issue. (Doc. 25). This request is unopposed. (Id. at p. 8). This is a personal injury action arising out of a motor vehicle accident. (Doc. 1). FHP investigated the accident. (Doc. 25, Ex. A). The defendants believe there are witnesses to the accident or just before the accident but cannot identify or contact the witnesses without the unredacted CAD notes and the 911 audio recordings.1

‘extraordinary circumstances.’” Crews v. Hensley, No. 3:05-CV-1288-J-12MCR, 2006 WL 1679596, at *1 (M.D. Fla. June 13, 2006) (citing Henderson v. Perez, 835 So. 2d 390, 392 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)).

The defendants cannot identify witnesses to the accident without the unredacted CAD notes and the 911 audio recordings. (Doc. 25, p. 7). The information is not readily obtainable from any other source and may be critical to resolving the parties’ dispute. Ud.). Exceptional circumstances exist to compel the production of the 911 recordings. See Cerra v. Bounds, No. 6:18-CV- 76-ORL-22DCI, 2018 WL 5084722, at *1 (M.D. Fla. June 7, 2018) (‘[T]he Court finds exceptional necessity exists and Plaintiff has a compelling interest in discovering the identity of any persons who may have made 911 phone calls relating to the accident at issue in this case.”); Crews, 2006 WL 1679596, at *2 (same). Accordingly, the defendants’ motion to compel (Doc. 25) is GRANTED to the extent that FHP must produce the unredacted CAD notes and the 911 audio recordings related to the accident at issue in this action. ORDERED in Tampa, Florida on March 25, 2021.

Aranda. Arne ih Sane.

AMANDA ARNOLD SANSONE

United States Magistrate Judge cc:

Florida Highway Patrol – Troop Q, C/O Glenn D. Hedgecoth, FMRCC Manager, Fort Myers Regional Communications Center, 10041 Daniels Parkway, Fort Myers, Florida 33913
Footnotes
1 The defendants requested the CAD notes and 911 audio recordings, but FHP provided redacted copies. (Doc. 25, Ex. B). FHP will not provide unredacted notes without a court order. Florida’s Public Records Law, Chapter 119 Florida Statues, provides a right of access to the records of state and local government. For the public records law, the term “public records” is defined to include all documents, tapes, sound recordings or other material made or received under law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any agency. Fla. Stat. § 119.011(12). The Public Records Act is to be liberally construed in favor of open government, and exemptions from disclosure are to be narrowly construed so they are limited to their stated purpose. Gillum v. Tribune Company, 503 So. 2d 327 (Fla. 1987). The CAD notes requested are public records under Florida’s Public Records Law and must be compelled. However, Florida Statute section 365.171 exempts the names and other identifying information of 911 callers from the public disclosure requirements of the Public Records Act. But “courts may order a governmental or law enforcement agency to open its records for the purpose of providing information that is exempt from disclosure under the Florida Public Records Act ... upon a showing of ‘exceptional necessity’ or

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Citator

Cited By (32 total)

  • Provenzano v. Dugger, 561 So. 2d 541 (Fla. 1990)
    …r post-conviction relief. However, this Court has recently rejected these arguments in State v. Kokal, 562 So. 2d 324 (Fla.1990). Relying upon the ra [*547] tionale of Tribune Co. v. Public Records, 493 So. 2d 480 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986), review denied, 503 So. 2d 327 (Fla.1987), we held that criminal investigative information with respect to a defendant is no longer active when his conviction and sentence have become final. We also held that the exemption under section 119.07(3)(d) expired when the defendant’s c…
  • State v. Kokal, 562 So. 2d 324 (Fla. 1990)
    …peals. The word “active” shall not apply to information in cases which are barred from prosecution under the provisions of s. 775.15 or other statute of limitation. In Tribune Co. v. Public Records, 493 So. 2d 480 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986), review denied, 503 So. 2d 327 (Fla.1987), the court had occasion to construe these provisions of the public records law when Ernest Lee Miller and William Riley Jent, together with the Tampa Tribune and others, sought to obtain the Miller and Jent case files held by the Pasco Co…
  • Bovis v. 7-Eleven, Inc., 505 So. 2d 661 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987)
    …So. 2d 887 (Fla.1984). . For an analogous legal principle relating to an owner/general contractor’s duty to maintain a job site in a reasonably safe condition, see Lewis v. Sims Crane Service, Inc., 498 So. 2d 573 (Fla.3d DCA 1986), rev. dismissed, 503 So. 2d 327 (Fla.1987). There, an operator of a hoist brought an action against the owner/general contractor alleging failure to maintain the job site in a reasonably safe condition. The question presented was whether the trial court erred in giving a jury inst…

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