Reno v. Pelullo

• Decision Date: 21 May 1985
• Docket Number: No. 84-1905,84-1905
• Citation: 469 So.2d 906,10 Fla. L. Weekly 1270
• Parties: 10 Fla. L. Weekly 1270 Janet RENO, State Attorney, Appellant, v. Leonard A. PELULLO, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 906

469 So.2d 906

10 Fla. L. Weekly 1270

Janet RENO, State Attorney, Appellant, v. Leonard A. PELULLO, Appellee.

No. 84-1905.

District Court of Appeal of Florida Third District.

May 21, 1985.

Rehearing Denied June 20, 1985.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen. and Eric J. Taylor, Tallahassee, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Paul Mendelson and Michael Ramage, Asst. State Attys., for appellant.

Alan J. Kluger and Steven I. Peretz, Miami, for appellee.

Before BARKDULL, NESBITT and DANIEL S. PEARSON, JJ.

DANIEL S. PEARSON, Judge.

The State appeals the denial of a motion to dissolve an injunction prohibiting it from obtaining, through a subpoena duces tecum, records from the Miami branch of Bank Leumi, Le-Israel, relating to the appellee's bank account established at the bank's branch in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The subpoena in question was issued as part of an investigation of Pelullo for possible violations of Florida law.

The State correctly contends, and Pelullo does not contend otherwise, that the subpoena is valid and enforceable under Florida law. No legitimate expectation of privacy which might prevent the production of such records is recognized in Florida, see United States v. Miller, 425 U.S. 435, 96 S.Ct. 1619, 48 L.Ed.2d 71 (1976); Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering v. Winfield, 443 So.2d 455 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); the records requested are relevant to the investigation being conducted, see State v. Tsavaris, 394 So.2d 418 (Fla.1981); and the subpoena is neither overbroad nor burdensome, id.

However, Pelullo argues, as he did below, that Pennsylvania law applies and that under Pennsylvania law the subpoena is invalid. Assuming, but not deciding, that Pennsylvania law applies, we nonetheless conclude that the subpoena is valid and enforceable.

While it is true that in Pennsylvania a legitimate expectation of privacy in bank records is recognized, that expectation of privacy gives way where a bank is "served with a valid search warrant or some other type of legal process such as a lawful subpoena." Commonwealth v. DeJohn, 486 Pa. 32, 48, 403 A.2d 1283, 1291 (1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1032, 100 S.Ct. 704, 62 L.Ed.2d 668 (1980). See also Commonwealth v. Goldhammer, 322 Pa.Super. 242, 469 A.2d 601 (1983). To be valid under Pennsylvania law, a subpoena must relate to "some pre-existing matter or cause pending before the court," Commonwealth v. Polak, 438 Pa. 67, 69, 263 A.2d 354, 356 (1970), or be issued pursuant to the specific authority of the Investigating Grand Jury Act, 42 Pa.C.S. § 4548, et seq. (the Act). Commonwealth v. Jolly, --- Pa.Super. ---, 486 A.2d 515 (1984). There being no "pre-existing matter or cause pending before the court," the validity of the present subpoena turns on whether it meets the requirements of the Act. The Act empowers the investigating grand jury to function as an investigating body equivalent to the Dade County State Attorney's Office. However, unlike a Florida State Attorney's subpoena, a Pennsylvania grand jury subpoena is not enforceable unless the grand jury provides an "affidavit of relevancy" showing the supervising judge of the investigating grand jury that "each item [requested] is at least relevant to an investigation being conducted by the grand jury and properly within its jurisdiction, and is not sought primarily for another purpose...." Robert Hawthorne, Inc. v. County Investigating Grand Jury, 488 Pa. 373, 382, 412 A.2d 556, 560 (1980) (exercising its supervisory powers to adopt affidavit of relevancy procedures outlined in In re Grand Jury...