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State v. Johnson3/21/2002
We have for review the opinion in State v. Johnson, 751 So. 2d 183 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000), which certified conflict with the opinion in State v. Manney, 723 So. 2d 928 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. We quash Johnson as explained below.
I. FACTS
Zina Johnson was involved in a single-car accident in which the passenger died. Johnson was hospitalized with injuries, and in the course of medical treatment, her blood was drawn. In seeking to prosecute Johnson for DUI manslaughter, the State attempted to notify her that her hospital records were being subpoenaed, pursuant to section 395.3025, Florida Statutes (1997). After its attempts to serve notice were unsuccessful, the State utilized its investigative subpoena power under section 27.04, Florida Statutes (1997) to obtain the records.
After the State filed a one-count information charging Johnson with DUI manslaughter, she moved to suppress her medical records, asserting that they were obtained in violation of the notice requirement of section 395.3025(4)(d). The trial court held an evidentiary hearing at which time Willie Brown, Jr., an investigator in the state attorney's office, testified relative to his attempts to serve notice. He first attempted to find Johnson in the hospital, but she had been discharged.
He then obtained her last known address from the state attorney's database and tried to serve notice in person, but learned that she no longer lived at the address. A former neighbor of Johnson's told the investigator that he believed she had moved to St. Petersburg. Brown traveled to St. Petersburg and unsuccessfully attempted to obtain an address from the St. Petersburg Police Department. In his search, Brown also unsuccessfully attempted to contact Johnson's mother and Rodney Williams (the decedent's husband) in an effort to obtain a current address. Brown, however, neither checked the State's driver's license records for an address, nor did he request a forwarding address from the post office, both of which contained her correct address.
In ruling on Johnson's motion to suppress, the trial court found that the State's failure to properly effect service was not due to any action by Johnson, but was entirely the fault of the State as it had "failed to use basic methods of locating a person, including a driver's license check, searching utility records, or contacting the post office." In granting the motion to suppress, the court explained, "Under the circumstances presented in this case, the medical records and blood tests must be excluded. While the Court is aware that this ruling may impede the State's ability to proceed with this action, the Court . . . finds that the State's failure to follow proper procedures necessitates this result." The Second District affirmed, relying on State v. Rutherford, 707 So. 2d 1129 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997), and certified conflict with Manney, 723 So. 2d at 928.
It is the State's position that in light of the fact that Johnson will not suffer prejudice and that the failure to serve notice was not willful, the proper remedy is to allow the State an opportunity to subpoena the medical records in accordance with section 395.3025(4)(d). The issue before this Court is whether the trial court under the facts of this case properly used the exclusionary rule to remedy a violation of section 395.3025.
II. THE APPLICABLE LAW
A patient's medical records enjoy a confidential status by virtue of the right to privacy contained in the Florida Constitution, and any attempt on the part of the government to obtain such records must first meet constitutional muster. The right to privacy is not absolu
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