Opinion ID: 2178846
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The psychiatric evidence.

Text: A. Effect of the commitment order. Pursuant to the court's order, the defendant was first examined by Dr. Michael Taylor, a psychiatrist who had been treating her on a private basis since before the shooting. He ceased his examination of her on September 30, 1977, at which time he was replaced by Dr. Vernon Varner. The defendant filed notice, pursuant to Iowa R.Crim.P. 10(10)(b)(1), that she intended to rely upon the defense of diminished capacity. The State then sought to obtain psychiatric evidence through these doctors' depositions and in-trial testimony. Upon application of the State, and over defendant's objections, pretrial depositions of Doctors Taylor and Varner were ordered by the court. Dr. Varner complied, and his deposition was taken. Dr. Taylor failed to appear for examination by the county attorney, and apparently no pretrial statement was ever taken from him. Again over objection, the trial court permitted Dr. Taylor to testify at trial in the State's case in chief. Defendant argues the trial court's rulings on the admissibility of the psychiatric evidence was erroneous because they violated her doctor-patient privilege, set out in section 622.10, The Code, as follows: No practicing attorney, counselor, physician, surgeon, or the stenographer or confidential clerk of any such person, who obtains such information by reason of his employment, minister of the gospel or priest of any denomination shall be allowed, in giving testimony, to disclose any confidential communication properly entrusted to him in his professional capacity, and necessary and proper to enable him to discharge the functions of his office according to the usual course of practice or discipline. Such prohibition shall not apply to cases where the person in whose favor the same is made waives the rights conferred. . . . As the following authorities established, not every doctor-patient relationship provides a basis for exclusion of the doctor's testimony. In some cases the privilege never arises; in others it exists but is held to be waived by the patient. The privilege did not exist at common law, 3 Wharton's Criminal Evidence § 563, at 86 (Torcia ed. 1973); 8 J. Wigmore, Evidence in Trials at Common Law § 2380, at 818-20 (privilege has come to mean little but the suppression of useful truth) (McNaughton rev. 1961), and its embodiment by statute has been criticized by at least one writer. Id. § 2380(a), at 828-32. While our cases have evidenced no hostility to the rule itself, they have uniformly required three elements to be established: (1) the relationship of doctor-patient; (2) acquisition of the information or knowledge during this relationship; and (3) the necessity of the information to enable the doctor to treat the patient skillfully. See State v. Nowlin, 244 N.W.2d 596, 602 (Iowa 1976); State v. District Court of Linn County, 218 N.W.2d 641, 643 (Iowa 1974); State v. Bedel, 193 N.W.2d 121, 124 (Iowa 1971). The order signed by the magistrate was as follows: