Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...(2018) (emphasis added). In enacting the Statewide Grand Jury Act, the Legislature adopted a separate statute governing disclosure of statewide grand jury proceedings, rather than simply incorporating the statute governing disclosure of county grand jury proceedings. See § 905.395, Fla. Stat. (2018) (governing disclosure of statewide grand jury proceedings). Unlike the statute governing disclosure of county grand jury proceedings (section 905.27), the statute governing disclosure of statewide grand jury proceedings (section 905.395), does not contain any provision proscribing a statewide grand juror from disclosing the testimony of a witness in a report or presentment. While section 905.395 makes it a crime for any “person” to divulge any of the grand jury “proceedings,” it omits section 905.27’s proscription against a “grand juror” disclosing “the testimony of a witness examined before the grand jury,” as well as its exceptions permitting disclosure of witness testimony. Compare § 905.395, Fla....

...to ascertain intent.” City of Parker v. State, 992 So. 2d 171, 176 (Fla. 2008) (quoting Daniels v. Fla. Dep’t of Health, 898 So. 2d 61, 64 (Fla. 2005)). Even if we were to resort to the rules of statutory construction, those rules would support our interpretation of section 905.395 as not proscribing a statewide grand jury from including the testimony of witnesses in its report....

...Moreover, while the statute governing disclosure of county grand jury proceedings—section 905.27—was enacted with exceptions permitting the disclosure of witness testimony under certain circumstances, the statute governing disclosure of statewide grand jury proceedings—section 905.395—contains no exceptions and makes no mention of witness testimony in its prohibition against a “person” divulging “any of the proceedings” to “any other person.” Compare § 905.395, Fla. Stat. (2018), with § 905.27, Fla. Stat. (2018). Hence, a reasonable textual interpretation of section 905.395 does not include a foreperson acting in his or her official capacity on behalf of a statewide grand jury, or the statewide grand jury itself, in the statute’s prohibition applicable to a “person” who has no permission or authority to divulge “any of the proceedings” to “any other person.” See § 905.395, Fla. Stat....

...2006) (“[W]e have pointed to language in other statutes to show that the Legislature ‘knows how to’ accomplish what it has omitted in the statute in question.” (quoting Rollins, 761 So. 2d at 298)). Thus, we hold that the plain and ordinary meaning of the term “person” in section 905.395 consists of individuals who divulge “any of the proceedings or identity of persons referred to or being investigated by the statewide grand jury” without the permission or authority of the statewide grand jury. It does not include a juror’s release of a report or presentment on behalf of a statewide grand jury in his or her official capacity as its foreperson. Accordingly, we conclude that nothing in section 905.395 prohibited the Twentieth Statewide Grand Jury from including witness testimony in the report it intends to publicly release. Conclusion As our supreme court has explained, the grand jury as a leg...

...defined in section 905.34. Disclosures of Witness Testimony I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the disclosures of witness testimony in the statewide grand jury’s final report are not prohibited by section 905.27 or 905.395....

...(2018). 15 under section 905.27 and are subject to being expunged under section 905.28. Barber v. Interim Rep. of the Grand Jury Spring Term 1995, 689 So. 2d 1182, 1185–86 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). Sections 905.27 and 905.395 reflect the historical understanding that grand jury proceedings should be secret....

...775.083, or by fine not exceeding $5,000, or both. See also § 905.24, Fla. Stat. (2018) (“Grand jury proceedings are secret, and a grand juror or an interpreter appointed pursuant to s. 90.6063(2) shall not disclose the nature or substance of the deliberations or vote of the grand jury.”). Section 905.395, part of the Statewide Grand Jury Act, prohibits any person from disclosing any of the statewide grand jury proceedings, unless such disclosure is pursuant to a court order: Unless pursuant to court order, it is unlawful for any p...

...provisions of the Statewide Grand Jury Act, unless those laws are “inconsistent with the provisions of” the Act. § 905.34(13), Fla. Stat. (2018). The strong interest in maintaining the secrecy of grand jury proceedings suggests that sections 905.27 and 905.395 should be interpreted broadly. See, e.g., Minton, 113 So. 2d at 367 (the tradition of secrecy in grand jury proceedings “is not to be abandoned without clear legislative direction” (citation omitted)). The majority opines that sections 905.27 and 905.395 are inconsistent, and therefore section 905.27 does not apply in statewide grand jury proceedings, because section 905.395 does not expressly prohibit a grand juror from disclosing testimony presented to the statewide grand jury. In 17 my view, these statutes are not inconsistent. Section 905.395 is broader than section 905.27 and imposes an additional measure of secrecy in statewide grand jury proceedings....

...g testimony or evidence presented to the grand jury, or the gist of any such testimony, unless pursuant to court order. If one were to draw a Venn diagram of the two statutes, the terms of section 905.27 would be wholly subsumed within the circle of section 905.395. I would therefore hold that section 905.27 applies in statewide grand jury proceedings and prohibits a statewide grand juror from disclosing testimony or evidence presented to the statewide grand jury, unless such disclosure is...

...2d at 1185–86 (holding that there is no exception in section 905.27 allowing for the disclosure of witness testimony in a grand jury report). Even if I were to agree with the majority that section 905.27 does not apply in statewide grand jury proceedings, I would nevertheless hold that section 905.395 prohibits the disclosure of witness testimony in a statewide grand jury report. The majority contends that section 905.395 should not be read as to prohibit the statewide grand jury itself from disclosing witness testimony in its report—that the Legislature could not have intended that result. The majority thus writes its own statutory definition of the word “person” to exclude a statewide grand juror and thereby justify the statewide grand jury’s numerous disclosures of witness testimony in its final report. But section 905.395 is not ambiguous or limited in any way....

...Edgar, 967 So. 2d 781, 785 (Fla. 2007)). 18 Conservation All. of St. Lucie Cnty. Inc. v. Fla. Dep’t of Env’t Prot., 144 So. 3d 622, 624 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014). The Legislature unambiguously commanded in section 905.395 that no person can reveal what occurs in statewide grand jury proceedings....

...proper functioning of a statewide grand jury, maintaining such secrecy is a matter of great public concern. For that reason, I would certify the following to the supreme court as a question of great public importance: DOES THE PROHIBITION IN SECTION 905.395, FLORIDA STATUTES (2018), AGAINST THE DISCLOSURE OF STATEWIDE GRAND JURY PROCEEDINGS BY “ANY PERSON” PREVENT THE STATEWIDE GRAND JURY ITSELF FROM DISCLOSING THE IDENTITIES OF SPECIFIC WITNESSES AND TH...