Appellate Court Denies Review of Trial Court Order Determining Unpublished Dr. Phil Interview Given by Man Accused of Murdering Couple in their Garage is Public Record

In Harrouff v. State, Case No. 4D17-575 (Fla. 4th DCA. Feb. 27, 2017), Deanna Shullman and Rachel Fugate successfully obtained access in the trial court to discovery material containing an interview given by a murder defendant to a syndicated talk show and denial of the petition for certiorari review in the appellate court. Harrouff was accused of attacking a couple in their garage and murdering them. He gave an interview to Dr. Phil from his hospital bed prior to his arrest. The State obtained a copy of the interview and turned it over to the defense in connection with the criminal prosecution of Harrouff. On behalf of WPTV-NewsChannel5, Deanna Shullman and Rachel Fugate successfully argued that, in turning over the interview to the defense, the interview became a public record under Florida’s Public Records Act.

Read the Circuit Court's opinion in Harrouff v. State.

Read the District Court of Appeal's opinion in Harrouff v. State.