Opinion ID: 887710
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Issue 2: Whether the District Court erred when it declined to order release of records pertaining to Russell compiled or possessed by the Missoula Pre-Release Center.

Text: ¶ 47 Prindel argues that the District Court abused its discretion when it denied his motion requesting that the court order the Missoula Pre-Release Center (Center) to produce the records it possessed regarding Russell. Prindel notes that during the course of discovery, he became aware that Russell had been kicked out of the Center and posits that the Center's records may be relevant to the question of foreseeability in the context of causation or may at least lead to evidence relevant to this issue. The County responds that district courts enjoy broad discretion in determining whether evidence is relevant and admissible and Prindel has made no showing that the records could have been considered by the Jail staff or influenced their decision to not admit Russell to the Jail. Thus, the County concludes, the court correctly denied Prindel access to the records held by the Center. ¶ 48 Rule 26(b)(1), M.R.Civ.P., provides that: [p]arties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action ... including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition and location of any books, documents, or other tangible things .... It is not ground for objection that the information sought will be inadmissible at the trial if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. The scope of discovery extends to documents possessed by non-parties as provided in Rule 45. Rule 34(c), M.R.Civ.P. Rule 45(a)(3), M.R.Civ.P., in turn, mandates that [t]he clerk shall issue a subpoena, signed but otherwise in blank, to a party requesting it, who shall complete it before service. Thus, generally, Prindel could have compelled a non-party such as the Center to produce relevant documents simply by subpoenaing those documents through normal discovery procedures, but the District Court could not have compelled a non-party to produce documents pursuant to Rule 37, M.R.Civ.P. ¶ 49 The records collected and preserved by the Center, however, constitute criminal justice information. Section 44-5-103(8)(a), MCA. Morever, these records qualify as confidential criminal justice information. See § 44-5-103(3)(e), MCA (defining as confidential criminal justice information any criminal justice information not clearly defined as public criminal justice information). Consequently, Prindel could not gain access to the files compiled by the Center absent authorization from the District Court upon a written finding that the demands of individual privacy do not clearly exceed the merits of public disclosure. Section 44-5-303(1), MCA. ¶ 50 It is difficult to discern the legal basis for Prindel's motion from his brief on appeal. Nevertheless, his motion, titled Motion for Order Directing Release of Criminal Justice Information, seeks the release of such information. Consequently, we conclude that Prindel has, pursuant to § 44-5-303, MCA, requested that the court authorize the Center to release confidential criminal justice information contained in its files. ¶ 51 The District Court denied Prindel's motion because this information was not within the purview of the jail staff (and most likely not in the purview of the County) prior to Russell's Pre-Sentence Investigation Report, and therefore could not have had a bearing on the foreseeability of Russell's act of violence against Prindel. The court essentially decided, without the court or either party ever seeing the information contained in the Center's files, that this information was not relevant. ¶ 52 Relevant evidence means evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. Rule 401, M.R.Evid. While all relevant evidence is admissible, non-relevant evidence is not admissible. Rule 402, M.R.Evid. Thus, had the District Court been ruling on a motion seeking to admit the Center's files as evidence, a proper determination that the files lacked relevance would have provided a valid basis for exclusion. Prindel's motion, however, was not a motion seeking a ruling on admissibility, but a motion requesting that the court order release of confidential criminal justice information under the Criminal Justice Information Act. The Criminal Justice Information Act sets forth the criteria that a district court should employ when considering a motion for release of criminal justice information. See § 44-5-303(1), MCA (dissemination of confidential criminal justice information is restricted to ... those authorized to receive it by a district court upon a written finding that the demands of individual privacy do not clearly exceed the merits of public disclosure). Rather than engaging in the statutorily mandated balancing of competing concerns, the District Court impermissibly conjectured that the information contained in those files was unknown to the County before Russell stabbed Prindel. The District Court assumed too much regarding the County's ignorance of the Center's files. Information in the Center's files may indicate that Prindel came there from Ravalli County, or was sent to a Ravalli County facility after being kicked out of the Center. This would have a bearing on what the County knew or should have known about Russell. The District Court effectively ruled on a non-existent motion in limine to exclude the contents of documents that were not in possession of the court or either of the parties. By ignoring the statutory criteria and denying access to the Center's records on the conjectural basis that such records are not relevant, the District Court abused its discretion. ¶ 53 We now turn to whether the demands of individual privacy clearly exceed the merits of public disclosure. Section 44-5-303(1), MCA. Pursuant to § 44-3-303(3), MCA, Prindel would be responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any criminal justice information that he might receive. Thus, unless that information is admitted at trial, it will never become truly public information. To be admitted at trial, such information must be relevant to an issue in the case. Rule 402, M.R.Evid. The record does not reflect that Russell has asserted his privacy rights by opposing the disclosure of these records. Moreover, any such assertions of privacy would be undermined by the fact that Russell is currently serving a life sentence at the Montana State Prison for deliberate attempted homicide and that his victim seeks the records in order to obtain legal redress. Any diminution of Russell's standing in the community caused by revelation of his conduct at the Center will be forever overshadowed by the fact that he once attempted to kill Prindel. In light of the foregoing analysis, we conclude that the demands of individual privacy do not clearly outweigh the merits of disclosing to Prindel the Center's records pertaining to Russell. ¶ 54 Though ostensibly ruling on Prindel's motion seeking the release of criminal justice information compiled and possessed by the Center, the District Court justified denying Prindel access to this information because the information is not relevant. The District Court effectively ruled that this evidence is not admissible under Rule 402, M.R.Evid. Relevance is not required for the release of criminal justice information. Moreover, information need not be relevant in order to be discoverable, but need only be reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of relevant information. As demonstrated above, the Center's files are reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of relevant information. Therefore, we reverse the District Court's denial of Prindel's motion.