Opinion ID: 8598
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Pseudonym Procedure

Text: 44 Cantu alleges that Salazar and Rocha's failure to utilize the pseudonym procedure specified in Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 57.02 for sexual assault investigations violated her privacy right. Rocha and Salazar respond that the statute does not require law enforcement to offer or utilize the procedure. Rather, it provides a way for sexual assault victims to keep their name out of the public record. Article 57.02 speaks to the use of a pseudonym to protect a victim's identity on documentation and in judicial proceedings and applies only after the victim completes a specified form and returns that form to law enforcement. There is no evidence in the record that Cantu completed that form or otherwise requested anonymity. The statute does not purport to control use of a victim's name when interviewing potential witnesses and has no application in a case such as this one where the objectionable disclosure was to witnesses who already knew both the name of the victim and the details of the assault. See Cinel, 15 F.3d at 1343 (no invasion of privacy when confidential information disclosed was already known to recipients of information). Cantu's claim that Salazar and Rocha failed to use the procedure does not allege a violation of a Cantu's privacy right and Salazar and Rocha are entitled to immunity on that claim.