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UT: Subpoena for medical records requires notice, so records suppressed

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Utah requires that subpoenas for privileged information be issued on notice under its Civil Rule 45(b) which applies in criminal cases. Here, the prosecutor made a showing of probable cause for judicial authorization of the subpoena, but even that violated the rule because of lack of notice to the person whose privileged records were subpoenaed. State v. Yount, 2008 UT App 102, 2008 Utah App. LEXIS 111 (March 27, 2008). W.D.Tex. declines to follow bass-ackwards Fifth Circuit rule of good faith first, probable cause second, instead determining probable cause first. In this case, the government had information that defendant was a subscriber to a U.S. based server of a child porn provider and not just for a brief period of time, and that was probable cause...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 02, 2008 (boomark / email).