Opinion ID: 1852842
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Conduct of Psychiatric Examination

Text: In the eighth assignment Sim's attorneys aver that Sim was erroneously deprived of her constitutional right to have the assistance of legal counsel before, during, and after her interrogation by the psychiatrist. It is to be noted in the first instance that, as reflected in part II of this opinion, the county court only required that the attorneys not interfere with the psychiatric examination; no order prevented the attorneys from consulting with Sim either before or after the examination. In essence, Sim's attorneys claim that her sixth amendment right to counsel was violated by their inability to be present during the course of the examination. The difficulty with that position is that it is not supported by either legal authority or sound reasoning. It is true that the cases cited by Sim's attorneys, Vitek v. Jones, 445 U.S. 480, 100 S.Ct. 1254, 63 L.Ed.2d 552 (1980); Doe v. Gallinot, 657 F.2d 1017 (9th Cir.1981); Luna v. Van Zandt, 554 F.Supp. 68 (S.D.Tex.1982); Lynch v. Baxley, 386 F.Supp. 378 (M.D. Ala.1974), reversed 651 F.2d 387 (5th Cir. 1981); and Lessard v. Schmidt, 349 F.Supp. 1078 (E.D.Wis.1972), judgment vacated 414 U.S. 473, 94 S.Ct. 713, 38 L.Ed.2d 661 (1974), again vacated 421 U.S. 957, 95 S.Ct. 1943, 44 L.Ed.2d 445 (1975), hold that the subject of an involuntary civil commitment proceeding for mental illness, or one being transferred from prison to a mental hospital, is entitled to a due process hearing. None of those cases hold, however, that there exists a right to the presence of counsel during the course of a psychiatric examination. Indeed, Lynch v. Baxley, supra , requires only that the names of witnesses, including any examining physicians, be made available to counsel prior to any hearing and that counsel be permitted to inspect any documents or records pertaining to the case. In an analogous matter, the termination of parental rights, this court approved the receipt of evidence which was developed through interviewing the parents outside counsel's presence. In re Interest of Spradlin, 214 Neb. 834, 336 N.W.2d 563 (1983), cert. denied 464 U.S. 1011, 104 S.Ct. 533, 78 L.Ed.2d 714. For the reasons above stated we conclude there is no merit to this assignment of error.