Opinion ID: 333140
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Waiver of Physician-Patient Privilege

Text: 7 Before trial the defense attorney announced that he intended to argue for an insanity defense and to use certain psychiatrists as witnesses, but as trial approached he was unable to obtain reports from those doctors pursuant to the court's order for reciprocal discovery. The court required appellant to execute a waiver of any physician-client privilege he might have because appellant's psychiatrists would not deal directly with the prosecution for fear of violating a Florida statute 5 recognizing a patient-psychiatrist privilege, even though the statute excepts all materials when the patient raises an insanity defense in a criminal prosecution. 6 Appellant claims that this waiver and the requirement that he furnish the names of his doctors to the prosecution exceeded the scope of Rule 16(c), 7 Fed.R.Crim.P., which authorizes government inspection only of material medical reports that a defendant intends to produce at trial and that are within his possession, custody, or control. But Rule 16(g) 8 gives the court discretion to enter any order it considers 'just under the circumstances' when a party fails to comply with a discovery order issued pursuant to Rule 16. Given the failure by appellant's attorney to comply with the court's reciprocal discovery order, we find no abuse of the court's Rule 16(g) discretion.