Opinion
05-23-00051-CV
06-30-2023
CHERIE FAYE WOODWARD, Appellant v. BRIAN DAVID WOODWARD, Appellee
On Appeal from the 468th Judicial District Court Collin County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 468-50207-2021
ORDER
BILL PEDERSEN, III JUSTICE
On May 22, 2023, following appellant's motion asserting the clerk's record and volumes six through eight of the reporter's record included documents and exhibits containing sensitive data in violation of Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 21c and Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.9, we abated this appeal to allow the trial court an opportunity to conduct a hearing to determine whether the complained-of documents and exhibits should be filed under seal or if less restrictive means, such as redaction, existed that would adequately and effectively protect the sensitive data. The trial court held the hearing on May 30 and filed written findings on June 27. Accordingly, we REINSTATE the appeal.
As relevant to our abatement order, the trial court found that
• appellant was specifically concerned with "R39, R39A, R40, R40A, R41, and R41A within Volume 8 of the Reporter's record[;]"
• per appellant, "the sensitive data contained in these exhibits consisted of social security numbers and the children's names and social security numbers[;]" and,
• "based on the agreement of the counsel for [appellee], the redaction of the sensitive data from the[se] exhibits . . . is the least restrictive way to adequately and effectively protect the sensitive data."
The trial court noted that appellant admitted into evidence at the hearing a flash drive, marked as Exhibit #1, containing "the exhibits R39, 39A, 40, 40A, 41, and 41A, within Volume 8 of the Reporter's record with the necessary redactions[,]" and ordered that "the redacted exhibits [in Exhibit 1] be substituted for the Reporter's Volume 8[.]"
We ADOPT the above-listed findings and note that, although the trial court ordered that "the redacted exhibits [in Exhibit 1] be substituted for the Reporter's Volume 8," a corrected record has not yet been filed. We also note that Volume 8 contains several other exhibits in addition to exhibits R39 through R41A. Accordingly, we deem it better to STRIKE volume 8, which has been under temporary seal since our abatement order, and so ORDER. We further ORDER
Those exhibits are Respondent's Exhibits 23, 28, 29, 33, 34, 37, 48, and 49.
Robin Benton, Official Court Reporter for the 468th Judicial District Court, to file, no later than July 15, 2023, a corrected volume 8 that includes the redacted exhibits R39 through R41A contained in Exhibit 1 as well as the other originally-included exhibits.
Our abatement order temporarily sealed, pending the trial court's compliance with the order, not only volume 8, as originally filed, but also volumes 6 and 7 of the reporter's record and the clerk's record. The hearing having been held, we ORDER those records UNSEALED.
We DIRECT the Clerk of the Court to send a copy of this order to the Honorable Lindsey Wynne, Presiding Judge of the 468th Judicial District Court; Ms. Benton; and, the parties.