Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Family Law Procedure
Can a party decline to produce certain records in a Florida family law case because of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination? This was an issue in the case Fields v. Coletta, 3D24-1177 (Fla. 3d DCA September 11, 2024).
In this divorce case, the husband was ordered to produce tax returns, bank statements, records concerning business he owned and credit card statements, among other records. The husband filed a writ of certiorari, arguing that requiring him to produce these documents might show he is in criminal contempt of various discovery orders. The attorney for the wife had not filed a motion for contempt at this time, but threatened to do so.
The appellate court rejected the husband’s argument and denied the petition, holding “We deny the petition because ‘the Fifth Amendment would not be violated by the fact alone that the [tax and business] papers on their face might incriminate the [Petitioner], for the privilege protects a person only against being incriminated by his own compelled testimonial communications.’ Fisher v. United States, 425 U.S. 391, 409 (1976). And the record does not indicate the act itself of producing the records in this context is testimonial in nature as the records have been generated or already shared with third parties. Cf. United States v. Doe, 465 U.S. 605, 617 (1984).”
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