Opinion ID: 2158512
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether the requirements of Iowa Code section 125.82(3) regarding a physician's presence at the hearing were satisfied.

Text: The Code states: The person who filed the application and a physician or professional who has examined the respondent in connection with the commitment hearing shall be present at the hearing, unless prior to the hearing the court for good cause finds that their presence is not necessary. Iowa Code § 125.82(3). The legislature requires the physician to be present in order to allow the respondent to cross-examine the physician. Id. § 125.82(1). The juvenile court's failure to require the physician's presence, without the required prior showing of good cause, clearly violated T.S.'s statutory right to cross-examine the physician. The juvenile court compounded its mistake by taking judicial notice of the physician's report on the basis it was part of the court file. The legislature requires the physician to file the report with the clerk of court prior to the hearing date so the clerk can immediately forward the report to the judge who issued the order requiring the examination and send a copy of the report to the respondent's attorney. Id. § 125.80(2). The report is to be used by the judge to either dismiss the application if the report indicates the respondent is not a chronic substance abuser or schedule a commitment hearing as soon as possible if the report indicates the respondent is a chronic substance abuser. Id. § 125.80(3)-(4). Thus, the purpose of the report is to allow the judge to make an early determination as to whether the commitment proceeding should be terminated. The juvenile court does have the authority to take judicial notice of prior court orders and court-filed documents. See, e.g., In re T.C., 492 N.W.2d 425, 429 (Iowa 1992) (allowing judicial notice of the pleadings and exhibits from a previous child in need of assistance proceeding); In re Adkins, 298 N.W.2d 273, 277-78 (Iowa 1980) (allowing judicial notice of a prior child in need of assistance case, including the evidence, providing certain safeguards are followed). The rule allowing the juvenile court to take judicial notice of these items does not apply to the physician's report in the instant case because it is neither a court order nor a court-filed document. Cf. In re H.G., 534 N.W.2d 113, 113-14 (Iowa Ct.App.1995) (holding the rule regarding judicial notice of prior court orders and court-filed documents does not extend to a modification hearing report prepared by a juvenile court officer). Furthermore, our rules of evidence govern judicial notice of adjudicative facts. Iowa R. Evid. 5.201( a ). These rules provide: A judicially noticed fact must be one not subject to reasonable dispute in that it is either (1) generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the trial court or (2) capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned. Id. R. 5.201( b ). The examining physician's report contains opinions based upon the physician's examination of the patient. The report does not consist of matters generally known or capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned. Therefore, under our rules of evidence, it was improper for the juvenile court to take judicial notice of the report.