Opinion ID: 1797629
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the privilege in florida

Text: At the time the Supreme Court decided Branzburg, a number of states had already enacted shield laws which, by statute, provided reporters with some degree of protection for their sources and information. [2] By 1996, twenty-nine states had adopted such laws. [3] However, it was not until this year that Florida adopted a shield law for reporters. [4] Consequently, the only protection provided to reporters in Florida prior to 1998 was through case law. In 1976, this Court, in light of Branzburg, first afforded a qualified reporter's privilege in Florida. In Morgan v. State, 337 So.2d 951 (Fla.1976), we adopted the balancing test set forth in Justice Powell's concurring opinion in Branzburg, finding that a qualified reporter's privilege existed to protect the disclosure of confidential information under the circumstances of that case. In Morgan, Lucy Morgan, a reporter for The St. Petersburg Times, refused to reveal the identity of the source of information for her article published in the Times, which contained the synopsis of a sealed grand jury presentment. The trial court found her to be in contempt and imposed a jail sentence and the district court of appeal affirmed. This Court vacated the contempt citation, finding, under Justice Powell's balancing test, that society's interest in unencumbered access to information from anonymous sources outweighed the general governmental interest in the secrecy of grand jury proceedings sought to be advanced in compelling disclosure of the informant's identity. We reached a similar conclusion in Tribune Co. v. Huffstetler, 489 So.2d 722 (Fla. 1986). In that case, a Tampa Tribune reporter had authored an article stating that a resident had filed a complaint with the Ethics Commission charging two county commissioners with misuse of office. At that time, complaints of ethics violations were confidential, and revealing the identity of a source of such a complaint was a criminal violation under the statutes. In the investigation that followed publication of the article, the reporter refused to reveal to the state attorney the identity of the reporter's confidential source. Subsequently, the circuit court found him guilty of contempt. This Court again applied Justice Powell's balancing test and found that the reporter's interest in protecting sources of information outweighed the public interest in prosecution for a violation of the particular statute at issue. In doing so, we noted that the societal interests underpinning most criminal statutes were not present in the statute involved in the case because it essentially dealt with a private interest in reputation. In both Morgan and Huffstetler, we were reviewing the qualified reporter's privilege in the context of confidential information sought by the government. Subsequent to those decisions, we addressed the privilege in two additional cases: Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Morejon, 561 So.2d 577 (Fla.1990), and CBS, Inc. v. Jackson, 578 So.2d 698 (Fla. 1991). Unlike the factual situations in Morgan and Huffstetler, in Morejon and Jackson, the information sought was requested by a defendant in a criminal proceeding and involved eyewitness observations or visual recordings of a crime. In Morejon, a reporter on a newsgathering assignment accompanied police officers who were on duty at the airport. While on this routine duty, police officers arrested Morejon and his traveling companion in an airport public concourse after a consensual search of their luggage revealed four kilograms of cocaine. The reporter was an eyewitness to the entire episode, standing approximately five to six feet away and taking notes. Details of the search and arrest, some of which were allegedly inconsistent with the officers' account of the arrest, were later printed in the reporter's article in The Miami Herald. During pretrial discovery, Morejon sought to depose the reporter. The reporter and The Miami Herald asserted an across-the-board qualified privilege against compelled disclosure of any information obtained by a reporter while on a newsgathering mission. This Court rejected that argument, holding that there is no privilege, qualified, limited, or otherwise, which protects journalists from testifying as to their eyewitness observations of a relevant event in a subsequent court proceeding. The fact that the reporter in this case witnessed the event while on a newsgathering mission does not alter our decision. 561 So.2d at 580. The Court went on to explain its decision in this way: The public has a right to every man's evidence. The privilege not to disclose relevant evidence obviously constitutes an extraordinary exception to this general duty to testify. Evidentiary privileges in litigation are not favored, and even those rooted in the constitution must give way in proper circumstances. As the United States Supreme Court aptly stated in United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 710, 94 S.Ct. 3090, 41 L.Ed.2d 1039 (1974): Whatever their origins, these exceptions to the demand for every man's evidence are not lightly created nor expansively construed, for they are in derogation of the search for truth. The fact that journalists may be somewhat inconvenienced by having to appear in court or other related proceedings does not lessen their duty to testify. Ordinary citizens would not be excused from testifying as to what they observed, and the first amendment should not be interpreted to make journalists' testimony privileged simply because they made their observations while on duty as a reporter. Id. at 581 (citations omitted). Having concluded that no privilege applied under those facts, we found no need to balance the respective interests involved. In Jackson, the issue also concerned a defendant's request for relevant evidence. A CBS news team videotaped portions of the law enforcement operation that resulted in Jackson's arrest. In preparation for trial, Jackson deposed the arresting officer, whose recounting of the arrest was inconclusive. Jackson then served a subpoena duces tecum on CBS, seeking portions of the videotapes (the out-takes) pertaining to him that were not televised. CBS moved to quash the subpoena, claiming that the out-takes were protected work product under the journalist's qualified privilege. As in Morejon, we concluded that no such privilege applied, stating: From a first amendment privilege standpoint, we can perceive no significant difference in the examination of an electronic recording of an event and verbal testimony about the event. What Jackson seeks to discover is physical evidence of the events surrounding his arrest. His request does not implicate any sources of information. We see no realistic threat of restraint or impingement on the news-gathering process by subjecting the videotapes to discovery.... Because the qualified privilege does not apply under the circumstances of this case, we need not balance the respective interests involved. Jackson, 578 So.2d at 700. In summary, these cases reflect that this Court has adopted a qualified reporter's privilege, at least in those cases involving confidential information; but we have indicated that, where a defendant seeks testimony or evidence, no such privilege exists to excuse reporters from testifying about their eyewitness observations or from providing physical material relevant to a crime. Although a defendant's rights to compulsory and due process under both the federal and Florida constitutions were not explicitly discussed in Morejon or Jackson, those rights are significant factors that are implicated whenever a defendant seeks to discover information relevant to the charges against the defendant. Those constitutional provisions are as follows. The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. (Emphasis added.) Article I, section 9, of the Florida Constitution, entitled Due process, provides that: No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, or be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense, or be compelled in any criminal matter to be a witness against himself. Section 16, entitled Rights of accused and of victims, provides in pertinent part: (a) In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall, upon demand, be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him, and shall be furnished a copy of the charges, and shall have the right to have compulsory process for witnesses, to confront at trial adverse witnesses, to be heard in person, by counsel or both, and to have a speedy and public trial by impartial jury in the county where the crime was committed. If the county is not known, the indictment or information may charge venue in two or more counties conjunctively and proof that the crime was committed in that area shall be sufficient; but before pleading the accused may elect in which of those counties he will be tried. Venue for prosecution of crimes committed beyond the boundaries of the state shall be fixed by law. (Emphasis added.)