Commonwealth v. Efaw

774 A.2d 735, 565 Pa. 445, 2001 Pa. LEXIS 1277
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 20, 2001
Docket1677/1998
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 774 A.2d 735 (Commonwealth v. Efaw) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Efaw, 774 A.2d 735, 565 Pa. 445, 2001 Pa. LEXIS 1277 (Pa. 2001).

Opinions

OPINION

NEWMAN, Justice.

Appellant Cynthia Efaw (Appellant) appeals from the Superior Court’s Order, which reversed the denial by the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County (trial court) of the Motion in Limine, filed by the Commonwealth, to admit certain evidence compiled by the State Farm Insurance Company (State Farm) pursuant to an arson investigation. Appellant asks this Court to determine whether the Arson Reporting Immunity Act [447]*447(ARIA)1 permits the Commonwealth to compel an insurance company to disclose information it received or developed pursuant to its private investigation absent disclosure to the insured, and without the insured’s specific waiver of her reasonable expectation of privacy or confidentiality. We affirm the decision of the Superior Court for the following reasons.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A fire occurred on December 23, 1995 at a home owned by Appellant and her husband. At the time of the fire, the daughter of Appellant was renting the home. State Farm carried the homeowner insurance policy of Appellant and her daughter’s renter’s insurance policy. State Farm investigator John Christmas (Christmas) and others examined the property, took photographs, and interviewed Appellant. Fire Marshall Edward Copper (Fire Marshall Copper) of Bristol Township also investigated the fire. Christmas’ report, and a subsequent report by Fire Marshall Copper, concluded that the ignition of combustible materials placed on the electric burner of the kitchen stove caused the fire. State Farm denied claims by Appellant and her daughter for payment under their respective insurance policies. On January 2, 1998, Fire Marshall Copper requested the information gathered by State Farm during its arson investigation. He made the request, authorized by the ARIA, which provides in relevant part:

(a) Fire loss information.' — Any authorized agency may, in writing, require an insurance company at interest to release to the requesting authorized agency any or all relevant information or evidence deemed important to the authorized agency which the insurance company may have in its possession relating to a fire loss under investigation by the authorized agency. Relevant information may include, without limitation herein:
(5) material relating to the investigation of the loss, including statements of any person, proof of loss, and any other [448]*448information relevant to the investigation by the authorized agency.

40 P.S. § 1610.3(a). In response, State Farm supplied the Commonwealth with photographs, statements and other information it compiled during the arson investigation. On August 14, 1996, a Bucks County Investigating Grand Jury issued a subpoena to State Farm requiring the production of all documents relating to the arson investigation. State Farm complied with the subpoena.

The Grand Jury charged Appellant with arson,2 recklessly endangering another person,3 and insurance fraud.4 Appellant filed a motion to suppress the documents submitted by State Farm on the grounds that State Farm obtained the information while it was acting as an agent of the Commonwealth or was engaged in a relationship with Commonwealth investigators that was so close that it effectively served as a Commonwealth agent. The trial court found that no such relationship existed and denied Appellant’s motion to suppress. While denying Appellant’s motion, the trial court indicated that portions of the information State Farm provided to the Commonwealth might be excluded on evidentiary grounds at trial.

The Commonwealth responded by making an oral motion in limine for the admission of all evidence gathered by State Farm during its arson investigation. The trial court denied this motion, indicating that Appellant possessed a reasonable expectation of privacy in the information conveyed to her insurance company and that the Commonwealth “cannot now use [State Farm] as a vehicle to obtain evidence in the absence of an effective waiver” pursuant to Commonwealth v. Ball, 523 Pa. 216, 565 A.2d 1143 (1990). Trial Ct. Op., 10/13/98, at 9 (R.R. 20a). The Commonwealth appealed to the Superior Court.

In a published Opinion, the Superior Court reversed the order of the trial court. It refused to require an insurance [449]*449company to notify its insured prior to releasing information relating to an arson investigation or to require a waiver of confidentiality when neither of these requirements appears within the express terms of the ARIA. We agree. The ARIA does not require notification to Appellant prior to furnishing information to the Commonwealth pursuant to an ARIA request. Appellant and the trial court improperly rely on Commonwealth v. DeJohn, 486 Pa. 32, 403 A.2d 1283 (1979), and Commonwealth v. Ball, 523 Pa. 216, 565 A.2d 1143 (1990), in support of their arguments. It is not reasonable for an insured to have any expectation of privacy in the information obtained pursuant to an arson investigation.

DISCUSSION

Appellant and the trial court seek to include a requirement within the ARIA that is noticeably absent from the text of the statute. The trial court denied the Commonwealth’s oral motion in limine for the admission of all evidence gathered by State Farm during its arson investigation because State Farm never informed Appellant that the Commonwealth was invoking the ARIA. “Without such disclosure to [Appellant], and without her specific waiver of any rights to confidentiality she may have pursuant to her contractual relationship with State Farm, we could not permit the Commonwealth to circumvent” Appellant’s constitutional protections. Trial Ct. Op., 10/13/98, at 11 (R.R. 22a). The ARIA does not contain a notice provision that places such a burden upon the Commonwealth.

Section 1610.3(c) of the ARIA, “Notification to policyholder”, requires an insurance company to “send written notice not sooner than 45 nor more than 60 days from the time the information is furnished to an authorized agency.” Thus, notification is only required after the requested information has been released. Contrary to Appellant’s contention, the ARIA does not contain language that requires State Farm to notify its insured before it submits information to an authorized agency. In the instant case, the Commonwealth submitted its request to State Farm pursuant to the ARIA on [450]*450January 2, 1998. According to the statute, Appellant had no right to be notified prior to February 16,1998.

Appellant asserts that the Commonwealth and State Farm violated the ARIA by failing to provide written notice that the Commonwealth obtained information from State Farm within forty-five (45) to sixty (60) days after it exchanged information. As a result, Appellant contends that all evidence submitted by State Farm must be excluded.

The record supports Appellant’s assertion that she did not receive notice within the forty-five (45) to sixty (60) day window provided by statute. However, under the ARIA, an insurance company’s failure to notify its insured that it has submitted materials to the Commonwealth does not grant Appellant the remedy she seeks.

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Related

Commonwealth v. Efaw
774 A.2d 735 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
774 A.2d 735, 565 Pa. 445, 2001 Pa. LEXIS 1277, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-efaw-pa-2001.