Volusia County Bank v. Bigelow

Citations

• 45 Fla. 638

Syllabus

<p>1. Section 1116 of the Revised Statutes, which provides for the propounding of interrogatories i-n writing to the opposite party upon any matter as to which discovery is sought and requires such party to file in the court in which the cause is pending written answers under oath to such interrogatories, does not authorize the propounding of such interrogatories (1) as seek exclusively for the case of the other side; (2) as are of a merely fishing character; (3) as are not reasonably relevant to the issue; (4) as are unnecessary or useless; (5) as seek to establish a forfeiture strictly so called; (6) as seek to contradict a written instrument; and (7) as are privileged upon grounds of public interest.</p> <p>2. Interrogatories .may be admissible under said section (1) the answers to which may expose other persons to actions; (2) the answers to which may expose the party interrogated to penalties; (3) where a defendant in ejectment’seeks to discover the character in which the plaintiff claims, and the pedigree upon which he relies; (4) that seek secondary evidence of lost written documents; (5) that inquire into confidential communications that the party interrogated would not be privileged from disclosing upen oral examination; (6) that seek to disprove the bona tides of a prima facie defence, or to show that the defendant has acted fraudulently.</p> <p>3. Where a large number of interrogatories are propounded under said section tc one of the parties to the action and the entire series is objected to upon the sole ground that they are improper and illegal and not comprehended within the statute, and certain specified interrogatories are objected to upon the further ground that they are irrelevant, incompetent and immaterial, and the court sustains the objection to the entire series, it must be assumed that the ruling was based on the ground of objection to the entire series, as the fact that some of such interrogatories might be objectionable could afford no basis