Posted on 04/11/2010 8:52:46 PM PDT by jerry557
The attorney for one of six South Hadley High School students accused of bullying Phoebe Prince in the months leading up to her suicide is asking for highly personal information about her, a move decried by a former prosecutor and victims advocates as “unconscionable.”
In a six-page motion filed in Northampton Superior Court, Terrence M. Dunphy, the lawyer for Austin Renaud, asks for the names of any physicians, psychologists or rape counselors Prince saw; any medical and psychological records viewed by the prosecutor; details of any prior allegations of rape or abuse by Prince; and a statement as to whether her family had been the subject of a Department of Children and Families investigation.
“It’s standard procedure,” Dunphy, whose client is one of two boys charged with statutory rape, said of the request. “The document speaks for itself. I’m not explaining anything.”
Wendy Murphy, a former prosecutor who teaches at the New England School of Law, called the move “unconscionable,” arguing that the state’s highest court has ruled that the defendant in a criminal case is not entitled to a “laundry list of everyone the victim’s ever been treated by.”
There is a “very narrow” exception, Murphy said, in which the defense has to explicitly show there is something in the alleged victim’s file that will affect the defendant’s chance of a fair trial.
“But in this case, it’s not only overly broad, it’s exceedingly premature,” she said, adding that Prince never accused anyone of statutory rape - consensual sex with a minor. “I can only see it as a threat to unveil all the family secrets.”
If Dunphy pursues it, Murphy said, prosecutors have a right to “reciprocal discovery,” or the same type of information about the defendants.
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonherald.com ...
That’s bad law.
HIPAA prevents the release of medical information to other than the patient.
1) It wasn't me.
2) The other(usually a female, but not always) consented.
If the prosecution has proof that shows a sex act took place between the accuser and the defendant, the defense is reduced to only number 2.
Since there are cases where the accuser consents, later regrets and makes a false accusation, and the defendant has to be allowed to defend him(her)self, yeah, it gets unpleasant.
Oh no, you called me a name...what will I do? I suppose you should go to jail...or you watch your mouth.
I don’t know if you fully understand the concept of “mean teens” in today’s world.
For instance, my son is being harassed on Facebook by some teens he barely knows. Ok, he has to live with them tearing him apart. But they are now putting down his mom, me. Ok, so I laughed and told them what could I possibly care about two low lifes with no diploma, no jobs, disrespecting me? Ha
But now they’ve upped it to tell him that his father committed suicide because of him. That’s low. I wanted to beat them up myself, only I don’t do such.
He doesn’t even know why they are doing this, they just don’t like him.
Well, if you *think* it is true...geez.
I'm curious...how did the names and pictures of minors end up in the press?
Even IF she was unstable, that’s all the more reason that she shouldn’t have been bullied by these bastards.
Because people researched, found out, and then released them to the press and also have posted them on their websites, blogs, etc. No privacy these days.
She was dating both of the boys with whom she was sleeping with, but as she was only a freshman there is always a chance at filing statutory charges as they were a few years older.
The girls on the other hand called her a slut to her face and online. So, we should now outlaw this type of language?
Other reports have come out that she also had problems in school in Ireland. This does not speak to a stabile young girl, so I’m not surprised the defense is trying to seek a bit more background.
None of what has happened here is out of the norm for high schools, the difference is this troubled girl took her own life.
I have a sophomore in high school, who has seen girls get labeled as a “slut”, with todays norms of sexuality this usually involves having multiple partners. Generally these are girls who act out sexually for attention. As Phoebe was a freshman, it is I think still quite unusual for her to have had two sexual partners. There may of course have been more, these two boys are being charged because they are a few grades older.
At this time, we do not have enough information to prosecute these kids.
Tell him to delete them as friends, why is he communicating with them? If they have constructed a page criticizing him, it is very easy to have the page pulled by reporting it as abuse.
It sounds like you’re talking about the eggshell skull rule of torts, which basically says “you take your victim as you find them.” My former employer once had a client whose vehicle was barely tapped in a mild accident, and we tried to argue that, since he had all kinds of pre-existing medical conditions, the defendant was liable.
Two boys were charged. But the attorney for ONE of the boys made the request for information. That boy is only charged with the statutory rape.
The other boy is charged with the statutory rape and the bullying.
America is going to be wiping this off our faces for a long time. How cna we possibly lecture about morality and decency when we allow vermin like this to roam our halls.
After this, Americans will have no credibility when discussing things like morals, decency, and about what is tyranny and what isn’t. If we ever get into a spat with Ireland, they’ll be the ones reminding us of what we let happen to that poor chid.
Unless this scum is punished and punished severely, then we are going to lose a lot of face and standing as an example of freedom and morality.
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