OCVLC Defends Multnomah Victim's Right to Refuse Discovery Request

Thanks to the combined efforts of the OCVLC and the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office, a victim of an assault was able to stop an attempt by her abuser to receive access to all of her medical records for the last five years.  

The defendant served two subpoenas on the victim, one requesting that she provide her medical, insurance, and driving records from the last five years to the defendant.The other was a "proposed" subpoena that the defendant was planning to issue to all of the victim's medical providers for the last five years.The defendant made no legal or factual arguments in support of the release of these records.

The OCVLC submitted a Motion to Quash Subpoenas to the court presenting the argument that the victim had a right to refuse a defense discovery request, that the medical records were protected under HIPAA, and that the defendant could not show that there was information in those records that would be material, favorable, and admissible as evidence at trial.

A hearing on this motion was held on Jan. 19 before Judge Jerry Hodson who granted OCVLC's Motion to Quash after finding that the defendant's basis for requesting the records was "conjecture."  

Newly-hired OCVLC Legal Director Rosemary Brewer represented the victim in this case.