District Court of Appeal of Florida

In a wrongful death action alleging that respondents' negligence led to her minor son's death, a petition for writ of certiorari challenging an order compelling production of a non-party's psychotherapy records is granted where petitioner had authority to claim the psychotherapist-patient privilege on the patient's behalf, and the records at issue were privileged and were not discoverable.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/16/2006
• Published 11/17/2006

Judges

• THOMAS, J.

Court

• District Court of Appeal of Florida

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• John S. Mills of Mills & Carlin, P.A., Jacksonville;  James W. Gustafson, Jr., of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A., Tallahassee;  and W. Roderick Bowdoin, Lake City, Attorneys for Petitioner.


• For Appellees:
  
• Susan L. Kelsey of Anchors Smith Grimsley, Tallahassee;  John D. Jopling, Gainesville, for Respondent Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics, Inc., Jennings L. Hurt, III, Henry W. Jewett, II, and Christian P. Trowbridge of Rissman, Weisberg, Barrett, Hurt, Donahue & McLain, P.A., Orlando, for Respondent Robert Spindell, M.D., John S. Derr, Tallahassee, for Respondent B.S. Hegde, M.D.