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hearingtestimonyaffidavitgrand jury

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In re Hall County Grand Jury Proceedings, 175 Ga.App. 349, 333 S.E.2d 389

Facts

Mr. William Binion, an accountant, was called to testify before the Grand Jury of Hall County regarding his accounting work for several former clients. While he answered general questions, he invoked the accountant-client privilege for specific inquiries. The grand jury sought a court order to compel his testimony, supported by a sealed affidavit summarizing other testimony received. The Superior Court conducted a hearing and an in camera inspection of the materials filed by the grand jury, ultimately ruling that the privilege did not extend to communications related to criminal or fraudulent activities.

Mr. Binion was called to appear as a witness before the Grand Jury of Hall County. He was questioned concerning accounting work that he had done for several of his former clients.

Issue

Did the Superior Court err in compelling Mr. Binion to testify despite his assertion of accountant-client privilege?

Did the Superior Court err in compelling Mr. Binion to testify despite his assertion of accountant-client privilege?

Rule

The accountant-client privilege does not protect communications made in furtherance of a crime or fraud, and the court may conduct in camera inspections to determine the applicability of such privileges.

The accountant-client privilege is established by OCGA § 43-3-32 (b).

Analysis

The court applied the rule by examining the nature of the communications between Mr. Binion and the intervenors. It determined that the privilege did not apply to communications made prior to the commission of a crime or fraud. The Superior Court's in camera inspection of the grand jury's supporting materials was deemed appropriate to assess whether the communications were indeed in furtherance of illegal activities, leading to the conclusion that the privilege was not valid in this case.

The superior court, after hearing legal arguments as to the privilege, conducted an in camera inspection of an affidavit summarizing the other testimony that had been heard by the grand jury and, based upon this affidavit, made the factual determination that Mr. Binion's testimony concerning certain communications from the intervenors was not privileged.

Conclusion

The Court of Appeals affirmed the Superior Court's order compelling Mr. Binion to testify, concluding that the intervenors had no valid privilege regarding their communications.

Accordingly, the order compelling Mr. Binion's testimony must be affirmed.

Who won?

The grand jury prevailed in this case because the court found that the accountant-client privilege did not apply to the communications in question, allowing the grand jury to obtain the necessary testimony.

The superior court did not err in holding that the intervenors had no valid privilege as to any communications to Mr. Binion that were preliminary to the intervenors' commission of a crime or perpetration of a fraud.

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