Opinion ID: 2212272
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Waiver of Attorney-Client Privilege by Assertion of Insanity Defense

Text: A minority of jurisdictions have held that the attorney-client privilege is automatically waived whenever the accused puts his or her mental state in issue in the form of an insanity defense. People v. Edney (1976), 39 N.Y.2d 620, 350 N.E.2d 400, 385 N.Y.S.2d 23; State v. Bonds (1982), 98 Wash.2d 1, 653 P.2d 1024 (majority opinion finding waiver of attorney-client privilege whenever defense raises insanity defense, but four justices dissenting on scope of majority's ruling on that issue; dissenters agreed that waiver had occurred under the facts but noted that waiver should not apply when defense-retained expert is not called as witness in any prior proceeding); see Austin v. Alfred (1990), 163 Ariz. 397, 788 P.2d 130 (rejecting application of work-product doctrine and attorney-client privilege to disclosure of names and reports of defense mental health experts, but holding that trial court should bar from disclosure defendant's statements concerning the offenses); see also Noggle v. Marshall (6th Cir.1983), 706 F.2d 1408, 1412 (upholding Ohio's limited privilege that only precludes the State's use of a defense psychiatrist during its case in chief, but not in rebuttal). In the case at bar, the State argues that we should follow the reasoning of those cases that employ the automatic waiver rule when a defendant puts his mental state in issue. However, we do not find those cases persuasive. In Edney, the New York Court of Appeals held that the attorney-client privilege was waived because State law allowed prosecutors to compel a defendant to submit to an examination by a State-retained psychiatric expert, and therefore the very facts that would be secreted by the privilege necessarily would be disclosed through the compelled examination. ( Edney, 39 N.Y.2d at 625, 350 N.E.2d at 403, 385 N.Y.S.2d at 26.) We note that the rationale of Edney has been questioned. See Miller, 737 P.2d at 838 n. 4 ([ Edney ] represents the clear minority view and has been sharply criticized by the American Bar Association as `confused' and `unpersuasive'); see also United States v. Layton (N.D.Cal.1981), 90 F.R.D. 520, 525 (noting that in the habeas corpus proceedings that followed the direct appeal in Edney, a Federal judge for the Eastern District of New York strongly disagreed with the State court's view that the attorney-client privilege was waived when a defendant put his mental state in issue but was unable to conclude that the view was unconstitutional) citing United States ex. rel . Edney v. Smith, (E.D.N.Y.1976), 425 F.Supp. 1038, 1053, aff'd (2d Cir.1977), 556 F.2d 556. Cf. People v. Newbury (1972), 53 Ill.2d 228, 234, 290 N.E.2d 592 (finding waiver of statutory physician-patient privilege once defendant called his psychiatrist to testify on his behalf). After carefully considering the cases from other jurisdictions, we find that the better-reasoned decisions hold that the privilege is waived only with respect to the testimony and reports of those experts who are identified by the defense as witnesses who will be called to testify on behalf of the defendant at trial, or whose notes and reports are used by other defense experts who testify. Additional support for this rationale may be found in the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Mental Health Standards (ABA Standards), which disfavor waiver of the attorney-client privilege except in limited circumstances. (See Miller, 737 P.2d at 839 n. 5 (text of ABA Standard 7-3.3(b) and commentary).) Policy reasons for recognizing the privilege in the mental health context and for limiting the waiver doctrine include the chilling effect disclosure of experts would have upon a client's willingness to confide in his or her attorney and consultants; inherent prejudice that occurs if the trier of fact learns that a mental health professional testifying at trial was originally retained by the defense; concern that allowing waiver would, in effect, cause the defense to assist the State in discharging its burden of proof; and recognition that the defense would be inhibited from consulting with mental health professionals for fear of creating prosecution witnesses, and might not consult them even though professional assistance might be crucial to the case. Criminal Justice Mental Health Standards § 7-3.3(b), Commentary, at 7-86 (2d ed. 1986). See also State v. Pratt, 284 Md. at 521-25, 398 A.2d at 424-26. We hold that the attorney-client privilege in Illinois protects communications between a defendant who raises an insanity defense and a psychiatrist employed by defense counsel to aid in the preparation of the defense, if the psychiatrist will not testify and the psychiatrist's notes and opinions will not be used in the formulation of the other defense experts' trial testimony. Accordingly, we hold that the attorney-client privilege has not been waived in the case at bar with respect to the testimony and notes of Dr. Rossiter.