Defendant can’t block release of his records

Appeals court rules in lawsuit over MMA fighter’s death in Delray

The driver charged in the 2016 hit-and-run crash death of mixed martial arts fighter Jordan Parsons in Delray Beach can’t block the release of financial and social media records in a wrongful death lawsuit by the victim’s estate, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.

Dennis Wright’s attorney argued the disclosure of that personal information in the civil case would violate his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent in his defense against five criminal charges.

But a three-judge panel with the Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld a ruling earlier this year by Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Janis Brustares Keyser requiring Wright to hand over the records to lawyers for Parsons’ estate.

It’s been revealed by police and prosecutors in the criminal case that Wright is suspected of drinking at a Delray Beach bar in the hours before the deadly crash, and that he posted on Instagram about the crash not long afterward.

Parsons’ mother, Anna Morsaw, is suing Wright, Wright’s mother and Buddha Sky Bar, 217 E. Atlantic Ave., the establishment where investigators say Wright drank alcohol.

Morsaw’s attorneys, Matthew F. Schwencke and Kara Rockenbach, hailed Wednesday’s ruling as “the right decision.”

“We are not compelling (Wright) to answer any questions” now about the records, Schwencke said of Wright’s concerns about self-incrimination. He added he doesn’t know what’s in the records Wright tried to hold back.

In Wednesday’s opinion, the appeals court judges wrote Wright had not sufficiently argued how his Facebook and other social media accounts, as well as his credit card and banking records, are constitutionally protected.

The panel said while the banking records could reveal Wright spent money at bars, “that alone does not link him to the crimes charged ...”

Wright also has not explained how the social media records either could help result in a criminal conviction, or “reveal anything that he did not already publically post,” the appeals court judges wrote.

Robert Resnick, who represented Wright for the appeal, said, “I have to examine the opinion and figure out what I want to do with it.”

Wright, 30, of Boca Raton, is on house arrest under a $450,000 bond. Charges against him include: DUI manslaughter; leaving the scene of a crash involving death; and driving with a canceled, suspended or revoked license.

Wright’s next court date is Jan. 17, when the judge could schedule his trial.

Wright is accused of driving a 2013 Range Rover Sport southbound at 116 miles per hour and slamming into Parsons, at the intersection of Federal Highway and Lindell Boulevard.

Parsons, 25, was in a crosswalk when he was hit at about 12:30 a.m. May 1, 2016. He died three days later.