In re Subpoena Duces Tecum On Custodian of Records

68 A.3d 308, 214 N.J. 147, 2013 WL 1955898, 2013 N.J. LEXIS 427
CourtSupreme Court of New Jersey
DecidedMay 14, 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 68 A.3d 308 (In re Subpoena Duces Tecum On Custodian of Records) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Subpoena Duces Tecum On Custodian of Records, 68 A.3d 308, 214 N.J. 147, 2013 WL 1955898, 2013 N.J. LEXIS 427 (N.J. 2013).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Through the Office of the Public Defender, the taxpayers of this State provide legal representation to criminal defendants who cannot afford a lawyer. The Legislature affords this publicly funded service only to individuals who lack the resources to hire private counsel. See N.J.S.A. 2A:158A-14. To determine whether a defendant qualifies for a public defender, a court staff member collects information about a defendant’s financial status. That information is then collected on the third page of an intake form, known as the Uniform Defendant Intake Report (UDIR). The defendant must certify the accuracy of the financial data set forth on the form.

This case requires the Court to consider the confidentiality of a criminal defendant’s UDIR form in light of an allegation that financial information set forth on the form was false. Defendant Alfonso Cataldo, indicted for financial crimes, obtained the services of a public defender after executing a UDIR form. The State presented evidence about defendant’s finances that challenged the accuracy of defendant’s representations about his assets on the disclosure form. It issued a trial subpoena seeking, among other information, defendant’s UDIR form and other financial data provided to court staff for purposes of determining defendant’s indigency. Although it used a trial subpoena, the State represented that it would not use the information it obtained [152]*152in defendant’s pending trial. Rather, the State sought this information to determine whether to initiate a second prosecution against defendant to charge him with false swearing and/or fraud. The trial court quashed the State’s subpoena on attorney-client privilege grounds, and the Appellate Division affirmed.

We modify and affirm the Appellate Division’s determination. We recognize that the financial information sought is integral to the State’s responsibility to investigate an alleged misappropriation of publicly funded legal services. Nonetheless, defendant supplied his financial information after being advised in writing that his UDIR form would be used for the sole purpose of determining indigency, with the understanding that his disclosures would remain confidential. Administrative Directive 1-06, promulgated by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) at our instruction, specifically represented to defendant that the UDIR form would not be used at trial or in a grand jury investigation. Accordingly, we hold that although the UDIR form is relevant to the State’s investigation of defendant for false swearing and fraud, the trial court properly quashed the State’s trial subpoena seeking defendant’s UDIR form to prosecute him. Given the language of the Directive, we do not determine whether defendant’s UDIR form was subject to the attorney-client privilege.

We are also mindful that, in addition to the specific issue raised in this appeal, this Court has other concerns when an allegation is made that a criminal defendant has willfully misrepresented his or her financial status in order to obtain legal representation at public expense. The judiciary has an independent responsibility to insure that funds set aside for qualifying criminal defendants are not misappropriated by those who do not qualify but provide false information to obtain a public defender. See N.J.S.A. 2A:158A-15.1. For that reason, we refer the question of defendant’s qualification for indigency status to the Assignment Judge for review. The Assignment Judge can rely on any relevant, competent evidence provided by any person or entity to determine whether defendant qualifies for a public defender.

[153]*153We further hold that while the current Directive serves the valuable purpose of protecting disclosure of sensitive, confidential information, it improperly prevents the State from prosecuting defendants who submit false financial information to secure the legal services of the Public Defender. We thus modify the Directive to permit, in appropriate circumstances, the disclosure of defendant’s financial information set forth on the third page of the UDIR form. The State can obtain that information through a valid grand jury subpoena — not through a trial subpoena, as was done here. Our decision today facilitates the State’s ability to prosecute false swearing and fraud in the submission of financial disclosures to obtain public defender representation. It also ensures that a defendant’s non-financial personal information, such as the medical, mental health, and substance abuse history that is also submitted to the Superior Court on the UDIR form, will remain confidential.

I.

On May 14, 2010, a State grand jury indicted defendant Alfonso Cataldo and thirty-three others. The indictment alleged that the defendants conspired together as the “Lucehese” family and as the “Nine-Trey Gangster Bloods” to commit various criminal offenses. The grand jury accused defendant of “engaging in and or conspiring to commit repeated acts of promoting gambling, possession of gambling records, theft by extortion, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, theft by deception, falsifying records, failure to pay gross income tax, and money laundering.” Defendant was indicted on six counts: first-degree racketeering, N.J.S.A 2C:41-2; first-degree and second-degree conspiracy, N.J.S.A. 2C:5 — 2; third-degree promoting gambling, N.J.S.A. 2C:37-2; third-degree possession of gambling records, N.J.S.A. 2C:37-8(a); and first-degree money laundering, N.J.S.A. 2C:21-25.

Prior to arraignment, defendant sought and obtained representation by counsel from the Office of the Public Defender. Defen[154]*154dant’s application for public defender representation included a UDIR form. Although the record does not include defendant’s executed UDIR form or indicate the precise manner by which the form was prepared, the UDIR form required defendant to certify, under penalty of law, that the information he provided was truthful. Court personnel reviewed defendant’s UDIR form. Evidently determining that defendant qualified as indigent, the Criminal Division granted his application for public defender representation.

Defendant’s claim of indigency generated a skeptical response from the State. Prosecutors had obtained documents during their investigation that suggested defendant owned substantial assets. The State issued a trial subpoena to the Moms County Superior Court’s custodian of records, demanding the production of a broad range of documents:

[a]ll applications [including but not limited to 5A forms], writings, financial investigation reports and/or notes, mortgage records, financial documents reflecting assets or indebtedness, promissory notes or written obligations/guarantees for the provision of services of the Public Defender, as well as any other document, wilting or item compiled pursuant to the inquiry made under the authority of N.J.S.A 2A:158A-15.1, as well as the consideration of the requirements in N.J.S.A. 2A:158A-14, attributable to defendant [Alfonso] Cataldo, in connection with State Grand Jury Indictment 10-05-00057-S.

The subpoena specifically provided that the documents were to be produced “in connection with” defendant’s indictment. The State has consistently represented, however, that it did not intend to use defendant’s UDIR form at his pending trial, but instead to determine whether it should seek to separately indict defendant for making intentional false statements to fraudulently obtain counsel at public expense.

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Bluebook (online)
68 A.3d 308, 214 N.J. 147, 2013 WL 1955898, 2013 N.J. LEXIS 427, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-subpoena-duces-tecum-on-custodian-of-records-nj-2013.