Opinion ID: 1122530
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sharon's Psychiatric Records

Text: Shortly after the complaint was filed in the municipal court in this case, defendant subpoenaed a private psychiatrist and a county mental health center for records relating to psychotherapy administered to Sharon White Bear before she contacted the police and became a prosecution witness in this case. The subpoenaed parties transmitted the records to the court under seal and claimed they were protected under the psychotherapist-patient privilege. (See Evid. Code, § 1010 et seq.) With the exception of sanitized excerpts discussed below, the contents of the records have apparently never been seen by defendant, his counsel, or the People. Defendant sought disclosure of Sharon's records on three separate occasions below: in the municipal court before the preliminary hearing, in the superior court before trial, and in postjudgment proceedings to correct and settle the record in superior court. (The last two motions were made before Judge Conklin, who presided at trial in this case.) Fairly summarized, the same basic arguments, procedures, and rulings were involved at every stage as follows: Defendant argued that assuming the psychiatric records showed Sharon suffered from delusions or other mental disorders affecting her competence or credibility as a witness, defendant's right to fairly cross-examine her under the due process and confrontation clauses of the federal Constitution would prevail over any state law privilege or privacy interest Sharon might otherwise claim in the records. The prosecutor seemed to agree that disclosure could be compelled to the extent the records contained the type of information identified by the defense. Following in camera reviews urged by both parties, the magistrate, and later the superior court, found little relevant information in the psychiatric records and concluded they were privileged in most respects. At both levels, trial counsel was informed that the records showed chronic drug and alcohol abuse and a history of depression and anxiety for which tranquilizers had been prescribed. However, in words uttered by the magistrate and reiterated by Judge Conklin, there was absolutely no indication that Sharon suffered from or was diagnosed with any thought difficulties, ... delusions, hallucinations, or other mental illness that would in any way affect her ability to perceive, recollect or relate events that she had witnessed. The magistrate further disclosed that the records showed Sharon had told her therapist about defendant's arrest in the capital case. The prosecutor conceded the latter information was discoverable. In an apparent abundance of caution, the magistrate also furnished counsel on both sides with confidential sanitized copies of records arising out of Sharon's therapy sessions from the time of the capital crimes forward. We note that all psychiatric materials are included as sealed exhibits in the record on appeal. Appellate counsel and the Attorney General have received access to the same sanitized excerpts made available to trial counsel. [15] (3)(See fn. 16.) We further note that on cross- and redirect examination at trial, Sharon disclosed that she had been undergoing psychiatric treatment for anxiety and substance abuse for several years, up to and including the time of trial, and that tranquilizing medication had been prescribed throughout that time. [16] (4a) Defendant argues here, as below, that limited pretrial disclosure of the psychiatric records prejudicially undermined his right to cross-examine Sharon effectively at trial. Defendant relies primarily on Pennsylvania v. Ritchie (1987) 480 U.S. 39 [94 L.Ed.2d 40, 107 S.Ct. 989] ( Ritchie ), which discusses a criminal defendant's federal constitutional rights in this context. [17] (5) Simply stated, it is not clear whether or to what extent the confrontation or compulsory process clauses of the Sixth Amendment grant pretrial discovery rights to the accused. (See Ritchie, supra, 480 U.S. 39, 51-54 [94 L.Ed.2d 40, 53-55] (plur. opn. of Powell, J.), 55-56 [94 L.Ed.2d 56-57] (maj. opn. of Powell, J.); Delaney v. Superior Court (1990) 50 Cal.3d 785, 805-806, fn. 18 [268 Cal. Rptr. 753, 789 P.2d 934].) However, the due process clause requires the government to give the accused all material exculpatory evidence in its possession, even where the evidence is otherwise subject to a state privacy privilege, at least where no clear state policy of absolute confidentiality exists. ( Ritchie, supra, 480 U.S. at pp. 56-58 [94 L.Ed.2d at pp. 56-58].) When the state seeks to protect such privileged items from disclosure, the court must examine them in camera to determine whether they are material to guilt or innocence. ( Id., at pp. 57-61 [94 L.Ed.2d at pp. 57-60].) In Ritchie, supra, the high court held that a complete in camera review of confidential records generated by a state agency as part of a molestation investigation was required where the defendant claimed they might undercut the complaining witness's credibility and where state law did not bar their disclosure under all circumstances. ( Id., at p. 61 [94 L.Ed.2d at p. 60].) (4b) At the outset, we question whether records stemming from Sharon's voluntary treatment by private and county therapists can be deemed in the possession of the government in the manner assumed by Ritchie. The records were not generated or obtained by the People in the course of a criminal investigation, and the People have had no greater access to them than defendant. Given the strong policy of protecting a patient's treatment history, it seems likely that defendant has no constitutional right to examine the records even if they are material to the case. However, even assuming Ritchie applies, no error occurred. On three different occasions, the lower courts examined the records in camera and concluded that, with minor exceptions, they contained no information significant enough to override Sharon's privilege of confidential psychotherapy. Any information having any arguable bearing on defendant, the capital crimes, and Sharon's ability to testify truthfully and accurately was disclosed. Our own careful review of the records supports all prior judicial characterizations of their contents. We therefore find no error in the restrictions placed on defendant's discovery of Sharon's psychiatric records.