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"Specifically, the court papers allege that Fort Lauderdale-based copying service Imaging Universe and president Ignacio E. Montero provided the government with

"Specifically, the court papers allege that Fort Lauderdale-based copying service Imaging Universe and president Ignacio E. Montero provided the government with CDs containing duplicates of documents Schapiro’s defense team culled from 220 boxes of evidentiary records in preparation for trial. Federal agents had seized those records from the mental-health clinic Biscayne Milieu, where Schapiro worked." So in future the defence must request copies of all 'evidentary records' by default so that the authorities can obtain no advantage?

Phlarp 10y ago
IANAL: Wouldn't any evidence gained from 'mental-health clinical records' be inadmissible anyway? Something about doctor-patient confidentiality? Come to think of it, shouldn't these records as a whole also be inadmissible because of the whole attorney client privilege thing? Or is this just a "sneak and peak" tactic to get insights into the opposition's strategy?
- dmix 10y ago
  Not if they are financial records rather than health records... I dont know why any court would care about mental health records for a fraud court case like this...
- mandevil 10y ago
  In a trial over medical fraud (as the case in question is), patient records are the key evidence! Depending on the type of fraud alleged (haven't looked into this case in particular) either the argument is that the treatments were unnecessary, or they were never delivered, etc. But when investigating if the doctor committed crimes, normal rules of doctor-patient confidentiality don't apply.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > IANAL: Wouldn't any evidence gained from 'mental-health clinical records' be inadmissible anyway? No. > Something about doctor-patient confidentiality? Where it exists as a legal privilege at all, physician-patient privilege prevents certain information in medical records from being used against the patient in court. (And, in any case, it apparently doesn't exist in the Federal Rules of Evidence; there are federal laws on medical confidentiality, e.g., HIPAA, but they are not a general privilege against the use of medical records as evidence, and again they protect the patient, not the physician.)
The_Magistrate 10y ago
"Since the indictment, Imaging Universe has charged Schapiro $8,200 to produce nine sets of discovery documents to his defense team. The motion identifies those records to include a dozen CDs containing approximately 1,140 PDF files, many with multiple pages." It appears that the defense was required to be on-premise to review the documents and was charged a fee by Imaging Universe to take copies with them. Requesting copies of all records shouldn't be necessary to obfuscate the defense's real documentation needs.

Phlarp 10y ago

IANAL: Wouldn't any evidence gained from 'mental-health clinical records' be inadmissible anyway? Something about doctor-patient confidentiality? Come to think of it, shouldn't these records as a whole also be inadmissible because of the whole attorney client privilege thing? Or is this just a "sneak and peak" tactic to get insights into the opposition's strategy?

dmix 10y ago
Not if they are financial records rather than health records... I dont know why any court would care about mental health records for a fraud court case like this...
mandevil 10y ago
In a trial over medical fraud (as the case in question is), patient records are the key evidence! Depending on the type of fraud alleged (haven't looked into this case in particular) either the argument is that the treatments were unnecessary, or they were never delivered, etc. But when investigating if the doctor committed crimes, normal rules of doctor-patient confidentiality don't apply.
dragonwriter 10y ago
> IANAL: Wouldn't any evidence gained from 'mental-health clinical records' be inadmissible anyway? No. > Something about doctor-patient confidentiality? Where it exists as a legal privilege at all, physician-patient privilege prevents certain information in medical records from being used against the patient in court. (And, in any case, it apparently doesn't exist in the Federal Rules of Evidence; there are federal laws on medical confidentiality, e.g., HIPAA, but they are not a general privilege against the use of medical records as evidence, and again they protect the patient, not the physician.)

The_Magistrate 10y ago

"Since the indictment, Imaging Universe has charged Schapiro $8,200 to produce nine sets of discovery documents to his defense team. The motion identifies those records to include a dozen CDs containing approximately 1,140 PDF files, many with multiple pages." It appears that the defense was required to be on-premise to review the documents and was charged a fee by Imaging Universe to take copies with them. Requesting copies of all records shouldn't be necessary to obfuscate the defense's real documentation needs.