Opinion ID: 2537785
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Bigley had a due process right to access his medical chart before the hearing.

Text: Bigley was represented by the Public Defender Agency during the involuntary commitment proceeding, and by attorney Gottstein during the proceedings on the medication petition. The public defender and Bigley's guardian contested this bifurcation of Bigley's representation. The magistrate at the April 30, 2008 commitment hearing ruled that Gottstein could represent Bigley in the later medication petition proceeding but could not serve as his counsel until the commitment proceedings were completed and Bigley was committed. According to Gottstein, as a result of this decision, he didn't get access to Bigley's medical chart until after the hearing started, and then only to a portion of it. Attorney Gottstein did not receive Bigley's medical chart before the May 12 hearing, even though he requested it and the court had earlier approved his representation of Bigley on this matter. The chart should have been provided earlier. Gottstein needed access to his medical history to prepare for proceedings regarding his best interests and alternative treatments under the Myers standards. That the court did not intend to proceed on the medication petition until Bigley was committed does not lessen Bigley's need for sufficient time to prepare for that proceeding. Providing Bigley with the medical chart on the day of the hearing was not sufficient to satisfy due process. Again, this is a matter that is technically moot in this case, since Bigley was released without the medication order ever being carried out. However, we hold that a patient must have access to his medical and psychiatric records once a petition to involuntarily medicate the patient has been filed. Furthermore, there is no need to wait until the commitment proceeding is completed to provide this information to an attorney who will be representing the patient in a subsequent medication proceeding.