Florida: A Florida appellate court held that the state could introduce the expert testimony of an endocrinologist and forensic psychologist to rebut the defense's expert testimony on the insanity defense. The defense theory was that the insanity was induced by cotton candy in a diabetic defendant. Shaffer v. State, 710 So.2d 79 (Fla.App. 4 Dist. 1998)
Missouri: In a capital murder case, the Supreme court of Missouri held that when a defendant places his mental condition in issue, he waives the physician-patient privilege to exclude the testimony of any doctors who have examined him for that purpose. By claiming PTSD, the defendant waived any privilege that would prevent a psychologist retained by him from testifying for the state. State v. Johnson, 968 S.W.2d 123 (Mo.banc 1998)
Indiana: Admitting the sexual molestation of an eleven-year-old in response to an attorney's question in a therapist's office is not protected by the therapist-client privilege, even if the therapist violated confidentiality duties by telling the attorney about previous admissions. The meeting was not for the purpose of therapy but to inform the defendant that he was subject to criminal prosecution. Kavanaugh v. State 695 N.E.2d 629 (Ind.App. 1998)
Massachusetts: The defendant who claimed he had post traumatic stress disorder, sat quietly while a videotape of Vietnam combat conditions was shown to the jury. The prosecution called an expert psychiatric witness to testify that defendant's silence was inconsistent with the disorder. The court held the testimony did not violate the defendant's constitutional right to remain silent. The defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree. Com. v. Hunter, 695 N.E.2d 653 (Mass. 1998)
Pennsylvania: Shortly before she killed her husband, the defendant had been hospitalized for depression and suicidal and homicidal tendencies. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that her lawyer's failure to raise a diminished capacity defense at trial constituted ineffective assistance of counsel and reversed a lower court order denying the defendant relief. Com v. Legg, 711 A.2d 430 (Pa. 1998)
Maryland: In a medical malpractice action against a physician who misdiagnosed the decedent with cancer, expert medical testimony was not required to show a causal connection between the alleged injury and the misdiagnosis where the patient suffered from foreseeable common symptoms such as fatigue, constipation and mood change. Hunt v. Mercy Medical, 710 A.2d 362 (Md.App 1998)
Kansas: An order of commitment of a defendant imposed during a period of psychiatric evaluation to determine competency to stand trial and sanity at the time of the offense is immediately appealable. U.S. v. Deters, 143 F.3d 577 (10th Cir. 1998)
New York: A federal court sitting in New York held that plaintiffs with major depression, agoraphobia, and borderline personality disorder who sue a life insurer for disability discrimination under the public accommodations section of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will be denied relief because the ADA does not apply to the underwriting practices of insurers. Pallozzi v. Allstate Life Ins. Co., 998 F.Supp. 204 (N.D.N.Y. 1998)
Washington: The Court of Appeals of Washington vacated and remanded a lower court order requiring the husband in a dissolution proceeding to submit to a penile plethysmograph test of sexual deviancy after the wife accused him of sexually abusing their child. The court held that the test would violate the substantive due process rights of the husband, who had no prior history of sexual crimes. In Re Marriage of Parker, 957 P.2d 256 (Wash.App.Div. 1 1998)
In a civil commitment proceeding brought pursuant to a sexually violent predator statute, the trial court did not lose its jurisdiction because the state failed to discuss the appropriateness of less restrictive treatment alternatives. In Re detention of Broer v. State, 957 P.2d 281 (Wash.App.Div 1 1998)
