Opinion ID: 1119018
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Mental Health Counselor Interview

Text: Alward contends that statements he made to the mental health counselor should have been suppressed since their admission violated state statutes regarding privilege, and violated his Fifth Amendment rights. The State responds that Alward's statements to the mental health counselor were properly admitted because a reasonable person would not believe that the communication would be confidential or that a patient-therapist relationship was being established. There is no evidence in the record that the counselor was a doctor, and statutes pertaining to the doctor-patient privilege are therefore inapplicable. Neither is there any indication in the record that the counselor was a social worker registered under NRS chapter 641B, or a marriage and family therapist under NRS 641A.060. Statutes pertaining to social worker-patient privilege and therapist-patient privilege are therefore inapplicable as well. However, we conclude that the introduction of this evidence was unfair to Alward. Our review of the transcript and the videotape indicates that the communication appeared to be confidential. Investigator Wood implied that the conversation with the mental health counselor was a private conversation when he introduced the counselor to Alward, saying, She's the counselor that I told you about.... I'm going to leave you two alone to talk for a little while. The counselor also urged the departing investigator to close the door so that the interview could begin. These statements, accompanied by actually closing the door to the interview room and leaving Alward and the counselor alone in the room, appear to have been designed to make Alward believe that the conversation was going to be confidential. Therefore, we conclude that admission of the videotaped interview with the mental health counselor violated Alward's right to due process guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. McKenna v. State, 98 Nev. 38, 39, 639 P.2d 557, 558 (1982) (fundamental unfairness, amounting to violation of the defendant's right to due process, for district court to permit court-appointed psychiatrist who examined the defendant to testify as to admissions the defendant made during that examination). The interview with the mental health counselor does not contain probative new information. However, the videotape of the interview was an important part of the State's case in that it assisted in demonstrating Alward's guilt by showing how he changed his story over time. Therefore, we cannot conclude that this error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24, 87 S.Ct. 824, 828, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1966), and we hold that the district court erred in failing to suppress it. Since we conclude that this portion of the videotape was improperly admitted on due process grounds, we do not reach Alward's Fifth Amendment argument.