Opinion ID: 1939540
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Denial of Access to a Confidential Record of the Department of Human Services.

Text: In support of the theory that Douglas Senecal had committed the crime, Dechaine attempted to gain access to a record created in connection with the Department of Human Service's child protective activities concerning Senecal's stepdaughter that Dechaine maintained would link Sarah Cherry to Senecal. That record, made confidential by 22 M.R.S.A. § 4008 (Pamph. 1989), [10] may be disclosed to [a] court on its finding that access ... may be necessary for the determination of any issue before [it].... Id. at (3)(B). Complying with the procedure set out in State v. Perry, 552 A.2d 545, 547 (Me.1989) (following Pennsylvania v. Ritchie, 480 U.S. 39, 58, 107 S.Ct. 989, 1002, 94 L.Ed.2d 40 (1987)), the trial court properly conducted an in camera review of the record's contents and ordered that its confidentiality be maintained since the record contained nothing to suggest that Sarah Cherry was in any way involved in the Department's investigation of the alleged abuse of Senecal's stepdaughter. The trial court was correct in its assessment that the confidential record contained nothing more than was already advanced in Dechaine's offer of proof. Access to the record was not necessary for the determination of any issue before the court, 22 M.R.S.A. § 4008(3)(B), and the trial court's refusal to order disclosure of its contents was not an abuse of discretion. See Rossignol v. Commissioner of Human Services, 495 A.2d 788, 791 (Me.1985). Moreover, after making an independent review of the Department record, we cannot say that the information [contained therein] `probably would have changed the outcome of [Dechaine's] trial.' Perry, 552 A.2d at 547 (quoting Ritchie, 480 U.S. at 58, 107 S.Ct. at 1002). In these circumstances, there was no violation of Dechaine's right to due process. Id.