MORRIS COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION, D/B/A THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, AND MIKE BIANCHI, PETITIONERS,
v.
SUSANNE Y. FRANGIE AND FRANK FRANGIE, HER HUSBAND, LINCOLN INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, INC. F/K/A LINCOLN NATIONAL INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CORP., BAITA INTERNATIONAL, INC., AND WELLS FARGO GUARD SERVICE, INC., RESPONDENTS

Fla. 1st DCA | 1998-01-30
No. 97-2864
BOOTH, J., concurs., VAN NORTWICK, J., concurs in part and dissents in part with written opinion.
704 So. 2d 1143 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1998) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

A Florida appellate court denied a newspaper's petition for certiorari challenging a trial court's denial of a motion to quash a subpoena for a reporter's testimony regarding nonconfidential information. The court held that Florida law does not recognize a qualified reporter's privilege for nonconfidential sources and certified a question of great public importance to the Florida Supreme Court regarding whether such a privilege should exist.


Holding

Florida law does not presently recognize a privilege for nonconfidential sources of a reporter, and therefore the trial court properly denied the motion to quash. The court certified the question of whether Florida should provide such a qualified privilege to the Florida Supreme Court.


Headnotes

[1] Florida law does not recognize a qualified privilege for reporters concerning nonconfidential sources.

[2] A reporter's qualified privilege against disclosure does not extend to information obtained from nonconfidential sources.

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Key Quotes

“Florida law does not presently recognize a privilege for nonconfidential sources of a reporter.”

The court's holding that no qualified reporter's privilege exists for information obtained from nonconfidential sources.

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Facts & Procedural History

A Florida Times-Union reporter, Mike Bianchi, was served with a subpoena duces tecum in a civil case. The subpoena sought information the reporter had…

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Opinion of the Court
WOLF, Judge.

WOLF, Judge.

We have before us a petition for certiorari, challenging an order of the trial court denying petitioners’ motion to quash a subpoena duces tecum served on a Florida Times-Union reporter, Mike Bianchi. Petitioners assert that under the First Amendment, Bianchi was entitled to a qualified privilege from testifying and that the trial court erred in not applying the three-step balancing test adopted by this court in Gadsden County Times, Inc. v. Horne, 426 So. 2d 1234 (Fla. 1st DCA), rev. denied, 441 So. 2d 631 (Fla.1983). Respondent asserts that the trial court properly denied the motion to quash the subpoena because the information sought came from a nonconfidential source, for which no qualified privilege exists. We find, in accordance with the rationale expressed in Davis v. State, 692 So. 2d 924 (Fla. 2d DCA), rev. granted, 700 So. 2d 687 (Fla.1997), and in the majority opinion in Kidwell v. State, 696 So. 2d 399 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997), that Florida law does not presently recognize a privilege for nonconfidential sources of a reporter. Therefore, we deny the petition, but certify the following question to be one of great public importance:

DOES FLORIDA LAW PROVIDE A QUALIFIED REPORTER’S PRIVILEGE AGAINST THE DISCLOSURE OF NONCONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION RELEVANT TO A CIVIL PROCEEDING?

The facts in our case are identical to the facts in Kidwell and Davis, with the exception that the interview in question was con ducted by the reporter with the plaintiff in a civil case, rather than with a defendant in a criminal case. If there is no qualified privilege for a reporter’s nonconfidential sources, which is the rationale for the decisions in Kidwell and Davis, as well as the supreme court’s decision in Miami Herald Publ’g Co. v. Morejon, 561 So. 2d 577 (Fla.1990), then the fact that this is a civil case would be of no importance.1 See Tampa Television, Inc. v. Norman, 647 So. 2d 904 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994).

In light of the thorough discussion in Kid-well by both Judge Farmer and Judge Klein, and because Davis has already been argued in the supreme court, lengthy discussion on the merits of the issue before this court would serve little useful purpose. We do, however, wish to note that we share some of the concern expressed by Judge Klein in his opinion in Kidwell concerning total elimination of the balancing test in all nonconfidential source cases and the potential impact this has on the news gathering and editorial functions of our newspapers.

The petition for writ of certiorari is denied.

BOOTH, J., concurs.

VAN NORTWICK, J., concurs in part and dissents in part with written opinion.

. If the balancing test should have been applied as argued by the petitioners, the type of case might he a pertinent factor in deciding whether to quash the subpoena.

Other
VAN NORTWICK, Judge,

VAN NORTWICK, Judge,

concurring in part and dissenting in part.

In Kidwell v. State, 696 So. 2d 399 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997), the Fourth District was bound to follow its precedent in Gold Coast Publications, Inc. v. State, 669 So. 2d 316 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 682 So. 2d 1099 (Fla.1996). We are not so constrained. Accordingly, for the reasons well expressed by Judge Klein in his concurring opinion in Kidwell, 696 So. 2d at 406-409, in the instant case I would hold that the reporter is entitled to a qualified privilege from testifying subject to the balancing test adopted in Gadsden County Times, Inc. v. Horne, 426 So. 2d 1234 (Fla. 1st DCA), rev. denied, 441 So. 2d 631 (Fla.1983). Thus, I respectfully dissent from the denial of the petition for wnt of certioran. I concur with the certified question.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Morris Commc'ns Corp. v. Susanne Y. Frangie, 720 So. 2d 230 (Fla. 1998)
    …OVERTON, Justice. We have for review Morris Communications Corp. v. Frangie, 704 So. 2d 1143 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998), in which the district court affirmed the trial court’s order denying Morris Communications Corporation’s motion to quash a subpoena duces tecum served on its reporter in a civil proceeding. In affirming the trial court’s order,…

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