Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Do I have the right to copies of any and all documents I sign?

My horse and I were injured on a recently erected obsstruction that a county employee put up in a State owned preserve. I filled out an ''incident report'' with the Ranger and now the county will not respond to my telephone requests for a copy of this report, which I signed. Don't I have a right to any document which contains my signature?

Also, when the Ranger came to my home he brought his wife. She asked me all questions on the incident report and filled out the entire report. The Ranger and I both signed the report. I've been trying to find out if his wife is a county employee who has the authority to do this task. Is there some State Code that covers the procedures for incident reports?

Hope I get some answers -- Much appreciated!


Asked on 4/01/03, 1:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Robert Miller Robert L. Miller & Associates, A Law Corporation

Re: Do I have the right to copies of any and all documents I sign?

Thank you for your posted inquiry.

You do not necessarily have a right to see this report. If you have filed a lawsuit, you may conduct discovery, such as a document request, or a subpoena, to obtain this information. Some agencies will object, stating that such investigative reports are privileged as either attorney client privilege (i.e., conducted at the request of counsel or as part of anticipated litigation), or as confidential work product. In such as case, you may need to bring a hearing before a judge and have someone order production or decide whether or not the copies can be provided.

Barring litigation, you don't have a statutory right to get that report.

I hope that this information helps, but if you have more questions, need more information, or feel that you need legal representation, please feel free to email me directly at [email protected]. I�m happy to help in anyway that I can.

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Answered on 4/02/03, 3:18 pm


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