Opinion ID: 2625577
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the subpoenas for jessica's mental health records

Text: ¶12 Mr. Montgomery served a subpoena on the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute (UNI) for Jessica's treatment records. UNI responded with a letter stating that the records were privileged under Utah Rule of Evidence 506 and could only be released if an affidavit attesting that the request for records satisfied an exception to the privilege. Mr. Montgomery completed an affidavit for medical records entitled PATIENT HAS PLACED MENTAL OR PHYSICAL CONDITION AT ISSUE AS A CLAIM OR DEFENSE IN A LAWSUIT and checked the boxes indicating that Jessica's mental and physical condition were an element of a claim or defense in this lawsuit. UNI sent Jessica's treatment records directly to Mr. Montgomery. Not long after Mr. Montgomery received the records, UNI's general counsel called him to say that a mistake had been made; UNI should not have released the records; and instead, should have moved to quash the subpoena. ¶13 Investigators retained by Mr. Gonzales's counsel also contacted Ms. Snodgrass at her home and attempted to serve her with subpoenas seeking the names of Jessica's mental health providers. These actions prompted the prosecutor to request that any contact with State witnesses should be made through her. The prosecutor also told Mr. Montgomery to serve subpoenas on mental health service providers directly, but indicated an intention to move to quash any subpoenas regarding Jessica's mental health. On April 2, 2002, Mr. Montgomery served subpoenas on two of Jessica's private therapists. ¶14 At a pre-trial conference, the State challenged Mr. Gonzales's acquisition of the UNI treatment records. Having learned that the records had been obtained by Mr. Montgomery, the State sought to have them turned over to the court. The State asserted that Mr. Montgomery had obtained the documents improperly because he had signed the form provided by UNI as a condition to its release of Jessica's treatment records that included the false representation that Jessica had placed her mental or physical condition at issue. ¶15 Mr. Montgomery admitted that he looked at the records, but said that after UNI general counsel alerted him that UNI believed that he had acquired the records improperly, he safe-guarded them until the matter was resolved. The trial court ordered Mr. Montgomery to submit the records to the court and the trial court sealed them, conditioning their disclosure on the acquisition of a court order. ¶16 At a subsequent hearing on the fate of the records, the State sought to quash the subpoenas for the records and to exclude any evidence obtained from them. The State argued that Mr. Montgomery's access to the records had been gained fraudulently and that, by inspecting them, Mr. Montgomery had violated Jessica's rights. Mr. Montgomery replied that Jessica's mental state was an element of the defense. Mr. Montgomery understood Jessica's relevant mental state to be an inability to tell the truth. Thus, he argued, because of the likelihood of finding exculpatory evidence that Jessica cannot be believed in her mental health records, the defense was entitled to an in camera review under State v. Cardall, 1999 UT 51, 982 P.2d 79. ¶17 Mr. Montgomery also stated that Mr. Gonzales had independent knowledge of Jessica's severe emotional problems because Mr. Gonzales personally knew of Jessica's medical conditions and had attended one of her therapy sessions. Mr. Montgomery therefore asserted that the records were obtained for good cause and through proper procedures. ¶18 The trial court disagreed and quashed the subpoenas for the records. The court further ruled that the information obtained from the records could not be used at trial, and noted that Mr. Montgomery had created a possibly insurmountable conflict of interest, as it is impossible to divorce defense counsel's knowledge obtained from the privileged information from his knowledge of the rest of the case. Three days later, Mr. Montgomery submitted a motion to withdraw, which the trial court granted. Ms. Janet Miller replaced Mr. Montgomery as Mr. Gonzales's trial counsel.