Court Opinion

ID: 9737007
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:12:40.967033+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:23:55.853666
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE McLAREN, concurring: I concur in the majority opinion. However, I believe one aspect of the opinion needs greater emphasis. The placement of detailed information in an affidavit is necessary if the trial court is to be sufficiently apprised of the nature and extent of the information contained in the contested documentation. Disclosure of such information in an affidavit may foreseeably result in disclosure of the information sought by the plaintiff. The defendant, in attempting to keep such information from the plaintiff, will find it extremely difficult to prepare affidavits that give the court sufficient information to determine that a privilege exists while simultaneously constricting the information to safeguard nondisclosure via the affidavit. The trial court should be hesitant in determining a privilege exists based solely on the affidavits submitted by the defendant, for without an in camera review there is no external means to verify the truthfulness of the affidavits submitted by the defendant. I therefore believe that trial courts, except in rare instances, should not determine that a privilege exists without an in camera review of the contested documentation. “The proof of the pudding is in the tasting.”