Legal Topics

Criminal law — Unlawful sexual activity by person 24 years of age or older with person 16 or 17 years of age — Evidence

May 07th, 2021 in by admin

Criminal law — Unlawful sexual activity by person 24 years of age or older with person 16 or 17 years of age — Evidence — Mental health records of victim — Psychotherapist-patient privilege — Motion for production of victim’s psychotherapy records is denied except for records of her Baker Act hospitalizations — Relevance of psychotherapy records is far outweighed by victim’s interest in privacy of records where defendant has admitted to having sexual contact with victim, and any evidence that victim has propensity to imagine or exaggerate events or suffers from psychotic delusions would not exculpate defendant from strict liability crime to which consent is no defense — Unopposed motion for in camera review of records of victim’s Baker Act hospitalizations is granted