Howe v. Detroit Free Press, Inc

In this interlocutory appeal arising out of a civil suit for defamation, we must decide whether a probation report concerning one of the plaintiffs, prepared in connection with an unrelated Criminal matter, is absolutely privileged under MCL 791.229; MSA 28.2299, and therefore immune from discovery. Although the statute provides a privilege, we conclude that, under the circumstances presented here, the privilege was waived with respect to portions of the report that are relevant to issues raised in the defamation suit filed by plaintiffs. Accordingly, we reverse the decision of the Court of…