The Circuit's defendants, who carry the burden of justifying every record they withhold, served initial disclosures listing one document: Husband's own court filing. They named three judges as their witnesses, then 22 days later moved to stop all discovery, arguing that a judge's testimony may be compelled only when "absolutely necessary."
Art. I, s. 24(a) puts the burden on the custodian: the Circuit proves each exemption with evidence it brings forward. A custodian that chooses to disclose lists its proof: the exemption decision, the search, the recording, the records withheld.
- March 10, 2026: the disclosures, made "pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.280," name four witnesses: Chief Judge Sabella, Judge Ayers, Judge Felix, and "RICK MELINDI." One document: "Public Records that were previously provided to Plaintiff and filed in this case on October 15, 2025, located on the docket as DIN 6." That is Husband's own exhibit filing, made 146 days earlier. FNEW-A3Read them: Initial disclosures (Doc 70), p. 2 (link pending redacted copy)
- April 1, 2026: the same office moved to stay all discovery: "A party may not depose or otherwise compel the testimony of a judge unless '. . . the testimony is absolutely necessary to establish factual circumstances not in the record . . .'" The motion also invoked judicial immunity for "the Court's mental impressions involved in this litigation." FNEW-A4
- March 18 to April 28, 2026: Husband's interrogatories and document requests on the withheld video drew no answer by the April 17 deadline. On April 28 the court stayed all discovery except requests for admission. The one channel left open produced "Admit. No analysis was needed." N-081, N-053Served March 18, 2026 and never answered: who decided to withhold the April 4, 2025 video, and on what evidence?
Jessica Schwieterman, Senior Assistant Attorney General under Attorney General James Uthmeier, signed the disclosures and the stay motion as counsel for the Thirteenth Circuit, Court Administrator Gina Justice, Chief Judge Sabella, Judge Ayers and Judge Felix. One lawsuit, one disclosure, one document. Every duty here arises from Article I, section 24 on this lawsuit alone; no other card is needed to establish it.
Art. I, s. 24(a), Fla. Const. opens judicial-branch records to every person, and "The governmental agency claiming the benefit of an exemption bears the burden of proving its entitlement to the exemption" (Barfield v. Sch. Bd. of Manatee Cnty., 135 So. 3d 560, 562 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014)). Rule 2.420(m)(2) requires the custodian to state in writing the basis for any denial. A burden of proof is met with evidence; letters asserting the exemption, filed by the requester, restate it without proving it.
The details are where it lives: full record, receipts, related cards
On March 10, 2026 the judicial defendants served their initial disclosures in the records mandamus, e-filed the next day. The complete contents: four witnesses, Chief Judge Sabella, Judge Ayers, Judge Felix, and a fourth named "RICK MELINDI" as spelled in this filing; one document, listed as "Public Records that were previously provided to Plaintiff and filed in this case on October 15, 2025, located on the docket as DIN 6"; no anticipated damages; no insurance. [PARTIAL]
Initial disclosures exist so each side learns, without having to ask, what the other intends to rely on. In a case about withheld records, the custodian carries the burden of justifying the withholding. The single document these disclosures list is the plaintiff's own court filing. The contested video, the exemption decision, the searches and the missing logs appear nowhere in it. The same weeks show the same pattern: served discovery on those subjects drew no answers by its deadline (N-081), and three weeks after naming its witnesses the office moved to stay all discovery (FNEW-A4).
in a lawsuit about withheld records, the defendants' entire document disclosure was the records production the plaintiff himself had already filed with the court 146 days earlier
Doc 070, Notice of Serving Initial Disclosures, 25-CA-010255, Filing #243572846, certificate of service March 10, 2026, e-filed March 11, 2026 2:26 PM, served under Rule 1.280. The name as filed is "RICK MELINDI"; the companion fee letters are signed Richard T. Melendi, Chief Deputy Court Administrator (N-068). The disclosed document is Husband's own DIN 6 filing of 10/15/25, filed 146 days before the 3/10/26 service date of these disclosures (10/15/25 to 3/10/26).