Tober v. Sanchez

Decision Date27 July 1982
Docket Number81-1858,Nos. 81-742,s. 81-742
Citation417 So.2d 1053
PartiesRonald J. TOBER, Director of Metropolitan Dade County Transit Agency and Metropolitan Dade County, Appellants, v. Isabel SANCHEZ, Appellee. Ofelia ESCOBEDO, Appellant, v. Ronald J. TOBER, Director of Metropolitan Dade County Transit Agency and Metropolitan Dade County, Appellees.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

Robert A. Ginsburg, County Atty., and John E. Finney, Asst. County Atty., for Ronald J. Tober and Metropolitan Dade County.

Stabinski, Funt, Levine & Vega, Scherman & Zelonker and Regina F. Zelonker, Miami, for Isabel Sanchez and Ofelia Escobedo.

Before SCHWARTZ, NESBITT and JORGENSON, JJ.

NESBITT, Judge.

These consolidated appeals involve the identical question as to whether the official charged by law with the maintenance of public records pursuant to Section 119.021, Florida Statutes (1979), may transfer actual physical custody of the records to the County Attorney and thereby avoid compliance with a request for inspection under the Public Records Act, Chapter 119, Florida Statutes (1979). We answer this question in the negative.

Both cases had their genesis when attorneys for potential claimants against the Metropolitan Dade County Transit Agency (Agency) sought inspection of the accident records and reports emanating from separate Agency bus accidents. The requests for inspection were denied and the attorneys instituted mandamus proceedings against Ronald J. Tober, as Director of the Agency, and Metropolitan Dade County (County). In Case No. 81-742, the trial court granted a peremptory writ of mandamus ordering compliance with the demands for inspection; while in Case No. 81-1858, the writ was denied and the application therefor quashed.

Tober and the County have presented three arguments in this court. First, they contend that since Tober no longer has actual possession of the records sought, he is not the custodian of the records for purposes of permitting inspection under Section 119.07(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1979). However, there is no doubt but that Tober, as Director of the Agency, is the officer "charged by law with the responsibility of maintaining the office" and is consequently the custodian of the subject records. § 119.021, Fla.Stat. (1979). Section 119.01, Florida Statutes (1979), expresses this state's policy that such records "shall at all times be open for a personal inspection by any person." To permit an agency head to avoid his responsibility simply by transferring documents to another agency or office would violate the stated intent of the Public Records Act, as well as the rule that a statute enacted for the benefit of the public is to be accorded a liberal construction. City of Miami Beach v. Berns, 245 So.2d 38 (Fla.1971).

As their second and third arguments, Tober and the County claim that the accident reports are exempt from disclosure because they fall under the work-product doctrine and the attorney-client privilege. In Wait v. Florida Power & Light Company, 372 So.2d 420 (Fla.1979), our supreme court determined that these judicially-created doctrines are inapplicable to the Public Records Act absent a statutory amendment including them among the exemptions to the Act's disclosure provisions. 372 So.2d at 424. This holding disposes of the work-product argument, but the claim of attorney-client privilege is not so easily dismissed. It has been suggested elsewhere that by enacting Section 90.502, Florida Statutes (1979), codifying the doctrine of attorney-client privilege, the legislature may have effectively amended the Public Records Act as contemplated by the Wait opinion. 1 Donner v. Edelstein, 415 So.2d 830 (Fla. 3d DCA) (1982). Nevertheless, we expressly decline to venture into the area of statutory construction because we otherwise determine that there simply is no attorney-client privilege present in the instant case.

The records which both petitioners sought to inspect were internal accident reports prepared by Agency employees. No attorneys were privy to these reports until they were transferred by the Agency to the County Attorney's Office. Documents which...

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18 cases
  • Tribune Co. v. Cannella
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 30 d5 Setembro d5 1983
    ...records to the state attorney's office, thereby rendering it temporarily unable to comply with petitioner's request. Tober v. Sanchez, 417 So.2d 1053 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982). However, there is no simple solution to this problem. The city clearly had a duty to comply with the subpoena and, furthe......
  • Times Pub. Co., Inc. v. City of St. Petersburg
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 16 d5 Março d5 1990
    ...review documents. By these actions, the City improperly delegated its record keeping functions to the White Sox. See Tober v. Sanchez, 417 So.2d 1053 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982), review denied, Metropolitan Dade County Transit Agency v. Sanchez, 426 So.2d 27 (Fla.1983) (Official charged by law with ......
  • City of Orlando v. Desjardins
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • 11 d4 Setembro d4 1986
    ...Orange County; Hillsborough County Aviation v. Azarelli Construction Co., 436 So.2d 153 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); Tober v. Sanchez, 417 So.2d 1053 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982), review denied, 426 So.2d 27 (Fla.1983). Each of these courts noted the imbalanced posture and the disadvantaged status of public e......
  • Parsons & Whittemore, Inc. v. Metropolitan Dade County
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • 8 d2 Março d2 1983
    ...which, if any, constitute "work-product" materials and are required to be disclosed under the Public Records Act. Tober v. Sanchez, 417 So.2d 1053 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982). The court is directed to retain copies of all records examined as sealed exhibits, so that either of the parties may thereaf......
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3 books & journal articles
  • Privileges
    • United States
    • James Publishing Practical Law Books Florida Family Law Trial Notebook
    • 30 d6 Abril d6 2022
    ...legal advice are privileged in the hands of the attorney only if they were privileged in the hands of the client. Tober v. Sanchez , 417 So.2d 1053 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982). 10.2.4.4 No Privilege if Documents Within Criminal/Fraud Exception In a case alleging that the firm breached its fiduciary ......
  • Table of Cases
    • United States
    • Washington State Bar Association Public Records Act Deskbook: Washington's Public Disclosure and Open Public Meetings Laws (WSBA) Table of Cases
    • Invalid date
    ...3d 59, 121 Cal. Rptr. 429, 431 (1975): 8.4 FLORIDA__________________________________________________________________ Tober v. Sanchez, 417 So. 2d 1053 (Fla. App. 1982): 14.2(2)(b) Wallace v. Guzman, 687 So. 2d 1351 (Fla. App. 1997): 14.2(2)(b) MAINE__________________________________________......
  • §14.2 The Attorney-Client Privilege
    • United States
    • Washington State Bar Association Public Records Act Deskbook: Washington's Public Disclosure and Open Public Meetings Laws (WSBA) Chapter 14 Attorney-client Privilege and Other Discovery Exemptions
    • Invalid date
    ...records cannot be hidden from public scrutiny by transferring physical custody of them to the [a]gency's attorneys."); Tober v. Sanchez, 417 So. 2d 1053, 1054 (Fla. App. 1982) (same); see also Machtoka v. Vill. of W. Salem, 233 Wis.2d 106, 607 N.W.2d 319, 321-22 (Ct. App. 2000) (agency cann......

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