ALBERTO ROMERO GONZALEZ v. STATE OF FLORIDA , 240 So. 3d 99 ( 2018 )

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING
MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
ALBERTO GONZALEZ, )
)
Appellant, )
)
v. ) Case No. 2D17-2351
)
STATE OF FLORIDA, )
)
Appellee. )
___________________________________)
Opinion filed February 23, 2018.
Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P.
9.141(b)(2) from the Circuit Court for
Hillsborough County; Tom Barber,
Judge.
Alberto Gonzalez, pro se.
BLACK, Judge.
Alberto Gonzalez seeks review of the summary denial of his petition for
writ of mandamus filed with the circuit court. Because the circuit court failed to conduct
the necessary in camera review of the discovery evidence requested by Gonzalez, we
reverse and remand for further proceedings.1
1In its response to this court's briefing order, the State properly conceded
error.
Gonzalez was convicted of robbery, kidnapping, extortion, and grand theft
in 2009. In 2016, Gonzalez requested copies of twenty-one CDs the State had listed as
evidence in its case against Gonzalez. The State Attorney's Office responded and
explained that fifteen CDs would be made available but that the remaining six CDs were
exempt from public disclosure pursuant to sections 119.071(3)(a)(2) and
281.301, Florida Statutes (2015). The response was not sworn. The State Attorney's
Office thereafter denied the request as to the six CDs.
Gonzalez subsequently filed a motion with the circuit court, seeking to
compel the State to produce all twenty-one CDs, including the six CDs which the State
Attorney's Office had determined to be exempt from disclosure. Gonzalez attached to
his motion a copy of the initial request to the State, as well as the responses from the
State Attorney's Office. The circuit court treated the motion to compel as a petition for
writ of mandamus. See Hogan v. State, 983 So. 2d 656, 658 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)
("[A] mandamus petition . . . is the appropriate vehicle for challenging the denial of
access to judicial records." (citation omitted)). After reviewing the motion, the court
summarily denied it, finding that Gonzalez had established neither a clear legal right to
the requested evidence nor an indisputable legal duty of production because the six
CDs at issue were subject to public records exemptions. The court did not issue an
alternative writ to the State to show cause why the petition should not be granted, and it
did not conduct an in camera review of the six CDs to confirm whether their contents
are exempt from disclosure.
"To the extent that records in his possession are subject to disclosure by
law, the State Attorney has a ministerial duty to make them available in response to a
-2-
proper request, and mandamus is an appropriate means of compelling compliance."
Weeks v. Golden, 764 So. 2d 633, 634 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000) (citing Smith v. State, 696
So. 2d 814, 815 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997)); see also Potts v. State, 869 So. 2d 1223, 1225
(Fla. 2d DCA 2004) ("Mandamus is the appropriate remedy since it is used to compel an
official to perform lawful duties. A court-appointed lawyer is an 'official.' " (quoting
Pearce v. Sheffey, 647 So. 2d 333, 333 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994))).
When, as in the instant case, certain statutory
exemptions are claimed by the party against whom the
public records request has been filed or when doubt exists
as to whether a particular document must be disclosed, the
proper procedure is to furnish the document to the trial judge
for an in camera inspection.
Walton v. Dugger, 634 So. 2d 1059, 1061-62 (Fla. 1993); see also Hollis v. Massa, 211
So. 3d 266, 269 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017) ("Ordinarily, a trial court should not deny a petition
for writ of mandamus without an evidentiary hearing merely because an official files an
unsworn response claiming that he or she is not in possession of the requested
material."). In camera review affords the trial judge an opportunity to "properly
determine if the document is, in fact, subject to a public records disclosure." Walton,
634 So. 2d at 1062. That is, without conducting an in camera inspection of the
requested CDs, the circuit court could not conclude that their contents are exempt from
disclosure under section 119.071(3)(a)(2) or section 281.301; nor could it determine
whether redaction was possible. See Holley v. Bradford Cty. Sheriff's Dep't, 171 So. 3d
805, 805 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015).
Accordingly, we reverse the denial of the petition for writ of mandamus
and remand for the circuit court to conduct an in camera inspection of the six CDs to
-3-
determine whether the contents of the CDs are subject to exemption under the identified
statutes and, if so, whether redaction would allow their production.
Reversed and remanded.
CASANUEVA and LUCAS, JJ., Concur.
-4-