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Prosecutors and Victims' Privileged Info.

By Kent Scheidegger et al.

The California Supreme Court today issued a decision regarding the proper role of prosecutors when the defense attempts to access information protected by a privilege held by the victim. In a child molestation case, the trial court recused a large portion of the Los Angeles County DAs office for supposedly stepping outside its role as the public prosecutor to represent the victim in resisting defense efforts to access her privileged psychotherapy records. The Supreme Court held that there was no conflict. The prosecution may appear in a discovery proceeding and resist disclosure. Opinion here. CJLF press release here. CJLF brief here.

Full post as published by Crime and Consequences on May 12, 2008 (boomark / email).