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Jones v. State5/6/2003
criminal activity outweighs the privacy rights of the individuals who would be affected by the subpoena duces tecum and the search warrant.
Where there is an investigation into a serious and/or dangerous felony, public policy must override the rights of an individual. The privilege is to encourage the full disclosure by patients of their symptoms without fear of public disclosure. State v. Antill, 176 Ohio St. 61, 197 N.E. 2d 548, 551 (1964). However, the needs of the patient to have his medical information remain confidential must be balanced against "the interest of the public in detecting crimes in order to protect society." Id. Where the evidence is necessary to the proper administration of justice, it is taken out of the physician-patient privilege. Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle, 726 So. 2d at ( , 21).
. The record is silent as to how the State became aware that Jones had tested positive for cocaine. Further the record does not indicate that a subpoena duces tecum or a search warrant was issued for the test results. Therefore, we are left uninformed as to how the State came into possession of Jones's medical records. We note, however, that, while Jones contends that the search and seizure were conducted unlawfully, he does not contend that the records were voluntarily given to the State. The record does reflect that five pages of a medical record were disclosed to Jones on April 8, 1999, and that on April 27, 1999, the State made a supplemental discovery disclosure which included the names of Cooper and Robinson, the two hospital employees involved in the retrieval and testing of Jones's urine specimen. The disclosure also gave the substance of what Cooper's and Robinson's testimony would be. The record further reflects that two days later, on April 29, 1999, Jones filed a motion to suppress and a motion in limine.
. In the motion to suppress, Jones alleged (1) that blood and urine samples were taken from him by the Bolivar County Hospital for use in the diagnosis and treatment of his injuries, (2) that in the criminal discovery furnished by the State, the laboratory reports of his test at the Bolivar County Hospital for his treatment were included, that he anticipated that the laboratory reports would be used at his trial, (3) that no search warrant was included in the State*s discovery and that the taking of urine and/or the test results of the urine is a search covered by the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, (4) that the discovery did not disclose a consent to search executed by the defendant and did not disclose a waiver of the medical privilege, and (5) that the search and seizure were "conducted unlawfully and in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and of section 23 of the Constitution of the State of Mississippi in that said acts on the part of the State of Mississippi constituted an unreasonable search and seizure in violation of said provisions."
. The trial judge overruled the motion to suppress. However, we do not know the basis for the trial judge's decision since the record does not contain an order or opinion disposing of the motion. We must therefore make our decision without the benefit of the trial judge's reasoning.
. Our case is only slightly different from Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle in that here, unlike in BMH-GT, there is no statute that requires Bolivar Medical Center to disclose the medical records to the State. However, we do not read the decision in BMH-GT to turn on the fact that the medical personnel were required by statute to report to law enforcement personnel information regarding persons who had been treated for injuries
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