Confidential Communication Between Reverend Yun And Borzoi

B. Rule 505 Applies Because Borzoi Told Reverend Yun She Wanted to Discuss Her Perceived Flaws in Confidence.

Borzoi’s conversation with Reverend Yun was intended by Borzoi to be confidential because Borzoi asked that the conversation occur “in confidence.” (Borzoi Decl. ¶ 6.) In Alabama, a conversation with a clergyman is confidential if “it is made privately and is not intended for further disclosure.” Ala. R. Evid. 505(a)(2). This is to be determined from the communicant’s intent on whether the communication was to be regarded as confidential, and this intent must have been express or implied to the clergyman. Ala. R. Evid. 505 advisory committee’s notes (citing Lucy v. State, 443 So.2d 1335, 1341 (Ala. Crim. App. 1983)).
Lucy was found by Reverend Newman after he had cut his girlfriend and was afraid she may be dead. Lucy, 443 So.2d at 1340. Lucy asked to be let into Reverend Newman’s home to evade the police who he was convinced were going to kill him. Id. Lucy was not a parishioner of Newman’s

Borzoi went to Reverend Yun to discuss how she should handle this situation and other situations in light of her perceived character flaw. See id. She was not seeking to further the crime or fraud she was worried might be occurring, and neither Yun nor Borzoi was involved in a crime or fraud, as Tankersley was. See id. This case is distinguishable in that Borzoi was not the one committing, or talking about imminently committing a crime or fraud, and in fact, she did not commit a crime or fraud related to the discussion she had with Reverend Yun recounted in her Declaration. In fact, Borzoi did not present Reverend Yun with any evidence of Rooks’ misdeeds, just the rumors she has heard secondhand from her friends. Accordingly, the crime and fraud exception to the Rule 505 clergyman-penitent privilege does not apply to this