Henderson v. Perez

• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: FULMER.
• Citation: Henderson v. Perez, 835 So.2d 390 (Fla. App. 2003)
• Decision Date: 31 January 2003
• Docket Number: No. 2D01-3468.,2D01-3468.
• Parties: Cal HENDERSON, as Sheriff of Hillsborough County, Florida, Petitioner, v. Gustavo PEREZ, Respondent.

835 So.2d 390

Cal HENDERSON, as Sheriff of Hillsborough County, Florida, Petitioner, v. Gustavo PEREZ, Respondent.

No. 2D01-3468.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

January 31, 2003.

Thea L. Graber, Tampa, for Petitioner.

Michael Vincent Laurato of Austin & Laurato, Tampa, for Respondent.

FULMER, Judge.

Cal Henderson, as Sheriff of Hillsborough County, petitions this court for a writ of certiorari to quash that portion of a discovery order of the trial court which compels the sheriff's office to produce the home addresses and photographs of ten active law enforcement officers in a civil lawsuit filed by the respondent, Gustavo Perez. Because Perez did not make the showing of exceptional necessity or extraordinary circumstances that is required in order to obtain information exempted from disclosure by chapter 119, Florida Statutes (2001), we grant the petition, issue the writ, and quash that portion of the order which is the basis of the petition.

Perez filed a three-count complaint against the Sheriff alleging false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and battery. His claims arose from an incident in which he was arrested for offenses that he did not commit. During the course of the litigation, Perez sought the personnel files of all of the Sheriff's employees who had any connection to his arrest. After redacting specific information, such as the employees' social security numbers, their children's day care facilities, their home addresses, and their photographs, the Sheriff made available the files of these employees, all of whom are active law enforcement officers. Perez filed a motion to compel the Sheriff to provide the redacted information, and the petitioner filed a response to the motion to compel and a motion for a protective order alleging that the redacted information is specifically exempted from disclosure under section 119.07(3)(l)(1). The trial court, after a hearing on the motions, ordered the Sheriff to provide the law enforcement officers' home addresses and photographs.

An order of the trial court in a civil case which requires a governmental or law enforcement agency to provide information that is exempt from disclosure under chapter 119 is reviewable pursuant to a petition for writ of certiorari. See Dep't of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Krejci Co., 570 So.2d 1322 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990). Such material may be discovered upon a showing of "exceptional necessity" or "extraordinary circumstances." Id. at 1324. In Krejci, the Krejci Company was sued by a plaintiff who had sustained injuries in an accident after leaving a bar owned by the company where she had...