Todd & Julie Chrisley's Private Text Messages Sought By Man Suing Couple Over Son Grayson's 2022 Car Crash
Apr. 23 2024, Published 10:00 a.m. ET
Todd and Julie Chrisley fought a subpoena brought by the man who sued over a car crash involving their son Grayson that sought copies of their private texts and call logs.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, the reality stars, who are both serving time in prison, asked a court to shut down subpoenas issued by Patrick Rywalder to their phone provider.
As we first reported. Rykwalder sued Todd, Julie, Grayson, and Savannah Chrisley over a 2022 car crash that he said was caused by Grayson. Savannah is the co-legal guardian of her brother.
In the suit, the man said he was driving a 2020 Dodge Ram on Interstate 65 in Tennessee on November 12, 2022. He said while stopped Grayson's 2020 Ford 5150 pickup truck, owned by Todd and Julie, slammed into his car. He accused Grayson of being a "distracted driver" and said the teen was "not paying attention to the roadway in the moments immediately preceding the rear impact with the Plaintiff, Patrick S. Rykwalder’s, stopped vehicle.”
Rykwalder claimed Grayson “failed to act appropriately under the circumstances, which included at a minimum maintaining a safe operating distance from other motor vehicles, maintaining a safe operating speed, and avoiding being distracted by electronic devices within his motor vehicle.”
Rykwalder claimed he suffered serious injuries to his body. His lawsuit demanded damages up to $750k along with punitive damages.
Grayson was transported to the local hospital after the crash.
In court, Todd and Julie denied Rykwalder suffered damages and demanded the suit be tossed.
As part of the suit, Rykwalder issued 4 subpoenas to Verizon and AT&T for records related to Todd, Julie, Grayson, and Savannah's phone records. Specifically, he wanted the phone company to turn over each defendant's cell phone records for the day before to 18 days after the crash.
Todd and Julie called the subpoenas "unreasonable, oppressive, and a clear effort to harass" them. Their lawyer called it a "fishing expedition" that demanded copies of call logs, text messages, and data usage for each defendant.
In response, Rykwalder argued the subpoenas were warranted. He said that the defendants "make a vague argument that Defendants' text messages "may" reveal communications protected by attorney-client privilege because Defendants, Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley, were federally convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion. However, the Defendants offered the Court no affidavit or other evidence to support the vague allegations that the text messages "may" reveal attorney-client protected communications."
Rykwalder pointed out that Todd called shortly after the wreck and showed up at the scene, and Savannah was called shortly after the crash and also showed up at the scene.
In addition, he said Todd and Julie talked about the crash extensively on their podcast on November 17, 2022. He denied his subpoenas were meant to harass and said it was a normal request in a case.
Recently, the parties agreed that Rykwalder's subpoenas will only be allowed to seek records from November 12 to 15. They agreed Grayson's phone records will be turned over. The phone company will produce Todd and Julie's transmission logs to Rykwalder but the contents of the messages will only be disclosed to Todd and Julie's lawyer.
Todd and Julie's attorney will review the messages and turn over the relevant information.