## GENERA

HonorableMarvin B. Broa, JrCriminal DietriotAttorney Fort I%rbh, .Te~s Attention: Ebn. D+xm Roses
Dsar Si'rr opinion &.0-44C2

Rer Ths effect of Seations 39 and 42 of House Bill No. 20, 47th Legialatuie. otithe disolosure 'ofrsportsmade by the Dspartment of Publio safe* to proseouting officials.

we ars iu receipt of your letter of February 7, quote the folloniag portiona: 1942, from which we

they say, und& "The office.of the Highway Patrol at 

### Fort )Ibrth, acting, direatiouof Coloael Haner Garrison, Dire&or of the Department of PuLilio Safety,will not-file in this office a copy of.their report as to what they did or found in510their investigation. I have seen a number of their reports and they draw a diagram of the soene of the ,aooident, whiah would be wry helpful, together with their oQrment~a@to.what they found out fran persons other than the aoaused, to the IRst~iot.Attorney~sOffice; *hen complaintsare filed for drivJ.ng'a motor Vehicle while intoxicated, failing to render aid, or murder without maliae. 

### I&fa$, 

### if they do ,notohoese to file a wanplaint,their underataudiig is that they'are foxbidden by this Act to disclose to the proseouting atto.rm@a off$oe anythiug that they-y know about the prtioular transaotion,~hep,int'onnatioa O&I&~ to this offibe that there has been a violation of the la&.
"Our oonstruotionof this Aat is that.they only +hiag,,that is priVilegeed

end confidentialiathe report of the w~m(tde t0 th4 l%&rtment of kulS&O fbfety, not as to the evidenoe.that&ghiz 6;might iiiit show a~violation of the lam.

"I sm sure that ColonelGarrison and his Dspartment.are ,aotingih aerfeotly good faith; tit I em also equally sure that they ha-fe a Disoolioeptioaof the effeot of House Bill No. 20.
"Willyou please advise this offlce at your earliest emmenienoe yotm oonstruotion of the duties ofthe Departmentof Public Safety a6 to notifying the prosecutingofficers of such aooideutswhere the offense of drunken driving, failing to render aid, or murder is involvedf'Honorable &rvin H. Brown, Jr., page 2 (O-4402)

The ~rovisionii

of House Bill Do. 20.of the 47th Legislature, (Article 6667b;Revised Civil Statutes)which are involved in+his opinion are Sections 39 and 42. Section 39 reads as follows:
"Aooidents to be reported by persons involvedr-

*Every person involved in an accident resulting in death, injury, or apparent property damage of l?iQ Dollars ($50) or more where one or more motor vehicles are involved and vhhois the holder of an opsrator's, cammeraialoperator's, or chauffeur'slicense,under the provisions ofthis Act, shallmake a report of suoh accidentto the Departmentof Public Safety within forty-eight (46) hours. Refusal tomake suchreport shall render the holder of such license liable to suspensionor revocation of such license. Reports required by this Section shall be deemed privileged communications."

Section 42 provides as follows:
"Accident reports confidential: -

"All required accident reports and supplementalreports ahall be without prejudice to the individual so repxting and shall be for the confidential us&of the D+artzsent except that the Department,maydisclose the identity of a person involved in an acaidentwhen such identity is not otherwise knom or v&en suchperson denieshispresence at such accident. No such report shallbe used as evidenoe in any trial, civil or 'criminal,arising out of such accident, exaept that the Department shall furnish upon request of any person who has, or claims to haw, made such a report or upon demand of any court; a certificate showingthat a specified report has or has not been received by the Dsparbnenb, solely to prove a compliance or failure to cmsply with the requirementthat such report be made to the Department.'

Ws believe the intention of the Legislature in enacting the above seotionswas to prevent 'eny violations of the Constitutionalinhibitions against self-incriminations. The FifthAmendment tothe Constitution of the Unite.d

States and Article 1, Section .lOof the mustitution of Texas, provide, in substance,that inall criminalprosecutionsthe accused shall not bs compelledto give evidence against himself. This rule applies in any kind of oass inwhioh one is called as a tittnessincluding civil and orim- ,inaloases. See 44 Texas Jurisprudenoe,page 964, et seq., and 12 Texas Law Review, page 20, et seqi

This privilege is discussed in Wigmore on Rvidenoe,~~Volume 8, page 325, et seq., in which it is said:
"The protection,under all clauses, extendsto allmanner,of proceedings in which testimony is'to be taken,whether litigous or not, andwhether 'sx pertef or otherwise/ It;thereforeapplies in all kinds of courts, and all methods of interrogationbefore a court, in investigationsby a grand jury, and investigationsby a Legislature or a body having legislatwe funotions, and in investigationsby administrative officials."_ .-

Honorableh&rvin H. Brown, Jr., page"3 (o-4402)

This privilege,isalways personal as is discussed in 44 Texas Jurisprudence,page 966,where it is'saidr
"The privilegeof not enswsring the questions on the ground that it vii11 inoriminatehim is the privilege of the witness only; only hemay assert the privilege of refusing to testify on that ground."

Privileged ccamsunioations are always held inviolate, butwe do not believe this rule has ever been carried to the extent of saying that information obtained from other sources cannot be divulged by the person obtaining such facts. Thus in discussing the scope of privileged communicationsbetween attorney and client,Mr. Wigmore in his work on Evidence,Volwae.6, at page 615, et seq., saysr
"It is thereforenot sufficient for the attorney, in invoking the privilege, to state that the information oeme somehow to himwhile acting for his client, nor'that it came from sane particularthird person for the benefit of the qlient (unlessthe latter are agents of his client)."

Ik,believe that the intention of the Legislature in establishing the Department of Public Safety as is setforth inArtiole 4413, Sections 4 and 21 and other ,sections thereof, indicates that the department is to &operatewitht.he sheriffs and other local peace officers throughout the State for the purpose of the prevention and discovery of orimes and the apprehensionof criminals andthe promotion of public safety. &ticle 4413, Section 4, provides*
"The oommission shall formulate plans and policies for the enforcement of the criminal laws and of the traffic end safety laws of the State, the prevention of crime, the detectionand apprehensionofviolators of the laws, and for the education of the citizensof the State in the promotion of public safetyand law observance."

Artiole 4413, Section 21, providesr
*The Director

. . . shall formulate and put into effeot plans and means of cooperatingwith the sheriffs end local police and peace ofiloers throughout the State for the Purpose of the preventionand discovery of crimes and the apprehension of criminals and the promotion of public safety."

Our interpretation of the above articlea and authorities is that the Deparhnent of Public Safety is not authorized to disclose any information contained in reports reoeived from the persons involved in the accident described in thes statutes, but that they are authorized to notify the prosecutingofficers of all other informationrelating to oriminal offenseswhich they receive from third persons or obtain during the course oftheir own investigations.Rnorable Marvin H. Brown, Jr., Page 4 (o-4402) ~.i.-., 1.. :

Your request also relates to the authority of the Department**to** furnish proseouting.offiaerewith a copy of the reportmade to it by a patrolman in instanoes involvingoffenses of.drunkendriving, failure to stop and render aid, ormurder, etc.

DirectorGarrison advises that'the~Departmentof Public Safety does furnish to such officers such fasts as are discolsedby the investigation end that its patrolmen are instruatsd to cooperatewith other officers inthis respect,hrt thaf.it is the establishedpolicy of the Departrentnot to furnish aomplete copies of suchreports for the mason that they always contain comments by the patrolmanmaking the report which commentsare consideredconfidential.

I% csn find no legal objection to this establishedpolicy of.the Department.
Yourswry truly

APPRWRDAPR 8, 1942 /s/GROVRR SELLERS FIRSTASSISTART ATTORNBY GENERkL ATTORNEY GEiNERbL OF TRXAS
ay /s/Alfred F. Herb&in

Alfred F. Hebsrlin

~~A~sistant~

APPROVED Opinion Casmittee By BPlB ChaWsan