Lacy, In re, 89-153
| Decision Date | 27 September 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 89-153,89-153 |
| Citation | 239 Mont. 321,780 P.2d 186 |
| Parties | In re the Application For Production of Police Records re Michael LACY. ALLSTATE INSURANCE CO., Applicant/Appellant, v. CITY OF BILLINGS, Respondent. |
| Court | Montana Supreme Court |
Janice L. Rehberg, Crowley, Haughey, Hanson, Toole and Dietrich, Billings, for applicant/appellant.
Paul Luwe, City Atty.'s Office, Billings, for respondent.
This is an appeal from an order denying appellant, Allstate Insurance Company's (Allstate) application for an order directing the Billings Police Department (Department) to release to Allstate copies of its records relating to Michael Lacy, Allstate's insured. We reverse and remand.
The sole issue in this case is:
Whether the District Court erred in denying Allstate's application for the production of police records pertaining to the Billings Police Department's investigation into the death of Allstate's insured, Michael Lacy, for use during the insurance company investigation of policy coverage.
On January 11, 1988, Michael Lacy (Lacy) submitted an application to Allstate for a $130,000 life insurance policy. In the application, Lacy responded negatively to questions concerning prior use of illegal drugs, treatment for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and the presence of any mental or physical disorders. Based upon these representations, a policy was issued covering the life of Lacy. The policy was to be owned by and payable to Donn Cornelia.
Lacy died on September 5, 1988, at the War Bonnet Inn in Billings, Montana. The police were called to investigate his death. Upon arriving at the scene, the police found used syringes, quantities of white powder and other substances believed to be illegal drugs. The coroner's report revealed that Lacy was a frequent drug user, that there was evidence of "recent and old" intravenous drug use, and that Lacy tested positive for HIV (the AIDS virus). The report determined that Lacy died of an intravenous drug overdose.
Because there was inconclusive evidence to support a finding of suicide, the coroner termed Lacy's death accidental. Allstate believes, however, that further investigation may reveal that the death was, in fact, suicidal. Acting upon this belief and the circumstances surrounding the death, Allstate made a request to the Billings Police Department, to allow it access to files prepared during investigation of the incident. Allstate believes that the records may assist it in determining whether Lacy made misrepresentations in his application which would preclude the beneficiary from recovering any of the proceeds.
In order to comply with the Department's interpretation of the Montana Criminal Justice Information Act, Allstate filed an application with the District Court seeking production of police records concerning the death of Michael Lacy. The Department objected to the general release of its records and requested the court to conduct an in camera review in order to decide which evidence should properly be released to Allstate. The Department also sought a protective order to limit further dissemination of any information released to Allstate. Allstate did not object to any of these conditions, and in fact drafted a proposed protective order.
The District Court, however, denied Allstate's application. It held that Allstate was not authorized by law to receive the documents and was not, therefore, entitled to their production under the Criminal Justice Information Act. Allstate appealed the lower court's ruling.
In any free society there is tension between competing rights allocated among the citizens. This tension is apparent when the right of personal privacy collides with society's right to know relative to governmental operation. Because these two rights have been constitutionalized, this dilemma has been intensified in Montana.
The 1972 Montana Constitution elevated the right to privacy and the right to know to constitutional status. The right to privacy is found at Article II, Section 10, which provides:
The right of individual privacy is essential to the well being of a free society and shall not be infringed without the showing of a compelling state interest.
The right to know is found at Article II, Section 9, which states:
No person shall be deprived of the right to examine documents or to observe the deliberations of all public bodies or agencies of state government and its subdivisions, except in cases in which the demand of individual privacy clearly exceeds the merits of public disclosure.
As the language of the right to know provision indicates, the tension between these two guarantees is aggravated by the fact that they are textually interdependent. In general, all citizens have an absolute right to observe and examine the operation of agencies within government. Curtailment of this right is only justified "in cases in which the demand of individual privacy clearly exceeds the merits of public disclosure."
An easy solution which would provide concrete and uniform guidance in the balancing of these two guarantees has evaded both the courts and the legislature. The legislature has attempted to more clearly define and set the boundaries of the two rights. Of interest to this case is the Criminal Justice Information Act, which governs the dissemination of confidential criminal justice information. See, Sec. 44-5-101, MCA, et seq.
Section 44-5-103(3), MCA, defines confidential criminal information as:
a) criminal investigative information
b) criminal intelligence information
c) fingerprints and photographs
d) criminal justice information or records made confidential by law, and
e) any other criminal justice information not clearly defined as public criminal justice information.
One of the purposes of the act is to "establish effective protection of individual privacy in confidential and nonconfidential criminal justice information collection, storage and dissemination." Section 44-5-102, MCA. Obviously in certain situations investigatory material must be shielded from public review. Victims of sex crimes, for example, may have a legitimate expectation of privacy. On the other hand, suspects may have such an expectation in certain circumstances because criminal investigations occasionally result in the designation of the innocent as suspects, particularly in the early stages of investigation. See 42 Op.Att'y Gen. No. 119 at 7 (1988).
The legislature, therefore, in balancing...
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