MIAMI -- Two companies accused of manufacturing defective revolvers imported into the United States have been ordered to produce documents they allege are privileged.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida largely ruled in favor of four plaintiffs, ordering Forjas Taurus and Braztech International to produce the documents, although some will be reviewed by the magistrate judge.
The plaintiffs, William Burrow, Oma Louise Burrow, Suzanne Bedwell, and Ernest Bedwell, are suing on behalf of all the owners of the specific firearms.
Burrow alleges she dropped the revolver but, even though it was holstered and on safety, a bullet was fired that hit her in the leg.
In the second case, the firearm was also dropped and it discharged, hitting the Bedwells' child.
The plaintiffs want documents connected to an internal investigation instigated by the company after the former's firearms expert studied one of the revolvers.
But the two companies have refused to hand over the documents connected to their own investigation "on the basis that they are protected under the attorney-client privilege, the self-critical analysis privilege, and/or the work product doctrine."
Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres did not agree, ruling many of the documents are not privileged and should be produced.
Torres ruled the defendants "failed to present a viable argument on why their engineering reports, photos and videos do not contain anything more than technical information, and failed to carry their burden in showing how the attorney-client privilege applies to these items."
He further stated, "Only an in-camera inspection will be able to resolve the parties’ dispute on whether the attorney-client privilege applies to the email communications, memos, and other forms of correspondence."
Torres granted the motion "to compel defendants to produce their engineering reports, photos, videos and other technical documents." All further documents should be produced for "in camera" review by the judge.