Estate of Stollmeyer v. May

580 N.W.2d 58, 1998 Minn. App. LEXIS 698, 1998 WL 312660
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedJune 16, 1998
DocketCX-97-2170
StatusPublished

This text of 580 N.W.2d 58 (Estate of Stollmeyer v. May) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of Stollmeyer v. May, 580 N.W.2d 58, 1998 Minn. App. LEXIS 698, 1998 WL 312660 (Mich. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

OPINION

RANDALL, Judge.

Appellant challenges the district court’s civil contempt judgment against him, asserting that he properly invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege. We reverse.

FACTS

Appellant George May is the former executor of the estate of Alice Stollmeyer. May filed a Verified Complaint in Action for Settlement of First and Final Accounts (accounting) for the estate in Middlesex County, New Jersey, which disclosed “various loans outstanding” totaling $150,422.36. The accounting did not contain any additional information about the outstanding loans. Due to irregularities, the New Jersey Superior Court removed May from his position as executor, and the substitute administrator obtained a judgment against May for $218,842.51. The New Jersey judgment was docketed in Minnesota’s Washington County District Court. That judgment is not in issue.

*60 On June 12, 1997, May appeared with his attorney for a deposition by respondent’s attorney. May invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and refused to answer any questions relating to the outstanding loans.

On July 11, the Washington County District Court held a hearing on respondent’s motion to compel May’s attendance at a continued deposition and to compel disclosure of certain information. In an order filed September 24, the district court ruled-that May waived his Fifth Amendment right to the matters contained in the estate accounting by filing the accounting. The district court ordered May to appear at the continued deposition and to disclose information related to the materials in the accounting. The court also ordered May to

identify and provide all information concerning any and all individuals and entities which received loans from the corpus at issue herein, including the indenti[t]y, amount, date, and terms of said loans.

At the continued deposition on October 28, May refused to identify the individuals or entities who received loans from the estate and refused to disclose any information regarding the loans. An order to show cause hearing immediately followed the deposition, and the district court found that May was in constructive civil contempt of court. The district court ordered May to serve 90 days in jail and to pay attorney fees. The district court ruled that May could purge himself of the contempt and attorney fees by complying with the court’s order to disclose information. The district court stayed execution of the sentence and fees pending the outcome of this appeal. Judgment was entered on November 25,1997, and May appealed from this judgment.

ISSUE

Did the district court abuse its discretion by holding appellant in civil contempt for refusing to answer deposition questions pursuant to a court order that ruled appellant waived his right to invoke any Fifth Amendment privilege as to matters related to the estate accounting?

ANALYSIS

I.

A reviewing court may reverse or modify a contempt order only if it concludes that the district court abused its discretion by issuing that order. Minnesota State Bar Ass’n v. Divorce Assistance Ass’n, Inc., 311 Minn. 276, 284, 248 N.W.2d 733, 740 (1976). The district court’s discretion is limited in “that such sanction is appropriate only where the alleged contemnor has acted contumaciously, in bad faith, and out of disrespect for the judicial process.” Id.

II.

Although criminal contempt sanctions are imposed as a punishment, civil contempt sanctions are imposed to induce future compliance with a court’s order favoring the opposing party. Minnesota State Bar Ass’n, 311 Minn, at 285, 248 N.W.2d at 741. The court’s function in civil contempt cases “is to make the rights of one individual as against another meaningful. When the duty is performed, the concern of the court is satisfied.” Hopp v. Hopp, 279 Minn. 170, 174, 156 N.W.2d 212, 216 (1968).

Witnesses may invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in civil as well as criminal proceedings. Parker v. Hennepin County Dist. Court, 285 N.W.2d 81, 82 (Minn.1979). “[A] witness cannot be cited for contempt for refusing to answer questions on the basis of a valid assertion of the Fifth Amendment privilege * * * .” Minnesota State Bar Ass’n, 311 Minn, at 283,.248 N.W.2d at 740. The Fifth Amendment privilege may be invoked if the testimony or information sought would have a tendency to incriminate the witness. Id. at 278, 248 N.W.2d at 737. It is the court’s role to determine whether the evidence tends to incriminate the witness, but the court should deny this privilege only if it is “‘perfectly clear, from a careful consideration of all the circumstances in the case, that * * * the answer[s] cannot possibly have such tendency to incriminate.’ ” Id. (quoting Hoffman v. United States, 341 U.S. 479, 488, 71 S.Ct. 814, 819, 95 L.Ed. 1118 (1951)). Further, the *61 witness is only required to demonstrate that testimony or other information “would provide a ‘link in the chain of evidence’ required for prosecution and that a chance of prosecution exists.” Id. (quoting Blau v. United States, 340 U.S. 159, 161, 71 S.Ct. 223, 224, 95 L.Ed. 170 (1950)).

The Fifth Amendment does not protect public documents. In Garner v. United States, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a defendant who filed his tax returns without asserting his Fifth Amendment rights, could not claim a Fifth Amendment privilege as to them. Garner v. United States, 424 U.S. 648, 665, 96 S.Ct. 1178, 1188, 47 L.Ed.2d 370 (1976). Similarly, in Minnesota State Bar Ass’n, the Minnesota Supreme Court concluded that a defendant could not use a Fifth Amendment privilege to justify a refusal to produce income tax returns that he had filed without asserting his Fifth Amendment rights. 311 Minn, at 283, 248 N.W.2d at 740.

May asserts that under Gamer, the district court was first required to determine whether he was compelled to provide the final estate accounting. May insists that because the Supreme Court noted in Gamer that filing income tax returns is compelled by law, the district court was required to determine whether May was compelled by law to provide the accounting before concluding that May waived his Fifth Amendment privilege.

Gamer does conclude that the government compels citizens to file a tax return, just as a witness may be compelled to testify. 424 U.S. at 652, 96 S.Ct. at 1181. The Court stated, however, that the real question was whether the government compelled Garner to incriminate himself in his tax return. Id. at 653, 96 S.Ct. at 1181.

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Related

Blau v. United States
340 U.S. 159 (Supreme Court, 1950)
Hoffman v. United States
341 U.S. 479 (Supreme Court, 1951)
Garner v. United States
424 U.S. 648 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Minnesota State Bar Ass'n v. Divorce Assistance Ass'n
248 N.W.2d 733 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1976)
Arndt v. American Family Insurance Co.
394 N.W.2d 791 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1986)
State v. Hanson
285 N.W.2d 487 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1979)
State v. Butzin
404 N.W.2d 819 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1987)
Hopp v. Hopp
156 N.W.2d 212 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1968)

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Bluebook (online)
580 N.W.2d 58, 1998 Minn. App. LEXIS 698, 1998 WL 312660, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-stollmeyer-v-may-minnctapp-1998.