Opinion ID: 1652030
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: The Medical Privilege Issue.

Text: On retrial an additional issue is certain to be raisedwhether the defense is entitled to obtain the medical records of the deceased victim. Prior to trial, Heemstra obtained a subpoena duces tecum for Lyon's medical records to bolster his self-defense claim based on possible threats by the victim. Dr. Duncan and the victim's estate moved to quash the subpoenas, and Heemstra resisted. These records were provided to the court in response to the subpoena. The court did not reveal the records to the defendant or the State, but it did review them in camera for two limited purposes: (1) to determine if any direct threats were made by the victim regarding Heemstra and (2) to determine if statements made by the victim revealed the existence of potential witnesses who may shed light on Lyon's relationship with Heemstra. After the court reviewed the records, it found they contained no evidence concerning the two areas that the court had identified. The defendant's attorney asked the court to expand the scope of its in camera review, stating: I think that the defendant's due process rights and his Sixth Amendment rights to confront his accusers and to compel the production of information that would be relevant and helpful to his defense, is broader than those two areas and we can, of course, only trust the court to be sensitive to those due process and Sixth Amendment rights to compulsory process and to confront his accusers. The court denied Heemstra's request for disclosure and ordered the records to be sealed. Iowa Code section 622.10(1) provides: A practicing attorney, counselor, physician, surgeon, . . . mental health professional,. . . who obtains information by reason of the person's employment, or a member of the clergy shall not be allowed, in giving testimony, to disclose any confidential communication properly entrusted to the person in the person's professional capacity, and necessary and proper to enable the person to discharge the functions of the person's office according to the usual course of practice or discipline. A statute dealing specifically with mental health professionals, including psychologists, provides: Except as specifically authorized in [provisions not applicable here], a mental health professional, data collector, or employee or agent of a mental health professional, of a data collector, or of or for a mental health facility shall not disclose or permit the disclosure of mental health information. Iowa Code § 228.2(1). This section is broader than the general privilege statute, Iowa Code § 622.10, because it is not limited to testimony by the psychologist. Heemstra contends that Lyon's medical records will show that Lyon had character traits of unmanageable anger, aggression and violence and that he sought and received medical treatment for those problems within months of his death. He argues that he should be entitled to receive these records on three grounds: (1) the records are essential to his ability to receive effective assistance of counsel and due process, (2) the statutory provisions of Iowa Code sections 228.2 and 622.10 do not expressly prohibit their disclosure, and (3) the disclosure of the medical records by the victim's estate in its wrongful death suit against Heemstra constitutes a waiver of any claim of confidentiality. We first address the waiver issue.