Zarzaur v. Zarzaur

213 So. 3d 1115, 2017 WL 1134816, 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 3977
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 27, 2017
DocketCASE NO. 1D16-3454
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 213 So. 3d 1115 (Zarzaur v. Zarzaur) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zarzaur v. Zarzaur, 213 So. 3d 1115, 2017 WL 1134816, 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 3977 (Fla. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

Petitioner, Wife, seeks certiorari review of the trial court’s discovery order requiring her to disclose “all her records regarding treatment, diagnosis, care and medications from all her psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, and medical doctors who have treated her for any mental health issues or prescribed pain medication or any mental health medications to her in the last seven (7) years.” The order also requires Wife to submit to deposition questioning and answer interrogatories with the same scope. We grant Wife’s Petition in part.

Certiorari Jurisdiction.

We have certiorari jurisdiction to review orders granting discovery that create a material injury not remediable on appeal and constitute a departure from the essential requirements of law. State, Dep’t of Children & Families v. B.D., 102 So.3d 707, 708 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012); Mullins v. Tompkins, 15 So.3d 798, 800 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009). Erroneous disclosure of medical records qualifies as irremediable harm. Scully v. Shands Teaching Hosp. & Clinics, Inc., 128 So.3d 986, 988 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014) (citing Allstate Ins. Co. v. Langston, 655 So.2d 91, 94 (Fla. 1995); James v. Veneziano, 98 So.3d 697, 698 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012)).

Facts and Procedural History.

Upon filing for dissolution in 2012, the parties agreed to 50/50 timesharing of their minor child, born in 2008. The parties maintained 50/50 timesharing until February of 2015, when Husband initiated involuntary commitment proceedings against Wife under the Marchman Act,1 alleging Wife abused prescription drugs, had been under the influence of drugs or medications while driving their child, and had exhibited suicidal tendencies and episodes of violence. He simultaneously moved to suspend 50/50 timesharing, based on the Marchman Act proceeding and his allega[1118]*1118tions supporting it. The court gave him total parental responsibility, suspending Wife’s parenting time. After one day of Marehman Act evaluation, the examining physician’s report concluded there was “no documented abuse.”

Wife then moved to reinstate 50/50 time-sharing, which Husband opposed. Both parties consented to independent psychological evaluations pursuant to section 61.20 of the Florida Statutes.2 The trial court appointed an independent psychologist, who obtained medical/psychological and counseling records, interviewed Wife and Husband separately, administered written tests, conducted home visits, and interviewed the head of the child’s school. He completed a written evaluation addressing the statutory factors of the child’s best interests. § 61.13(3), Fla. Stat. He recommended that the child continue to live with Husband until the end of the 2016 school year pending an updated evaluation, but that Wife should be given more time with the child during that time.

After an evidentiary healing, the trial court gave Wife some supervised timeshar-ing with the child, but the parties continue to dispute the proper timesharing. In connection with the continued dispute, Husband sought disclosure of Wife’s mental health records, asserting that Wife had placed her mental health at issue. Wife’s counsel argued that Wife had not placed her mental health at issue in a claim or defense, and that the requested discovery was overbroad and improper. Further, Wife’s counsel argued that any issues had already been addressed by the independent psychological exam to which both parties had agreed, eliminating any basis for the broad discovery Husband requested. Wife’s counsel requested an evidentiary hearing and in-camera review of any other mental health documents to determine whether they should be produced.

The Order Under Review.

In the order under review, the trial court granted Husband access to Wife’s mental health records for the past seven years, not limited to those provided to the independent psychologist, and without requiring in-camera review. We quash this order in part.3

(1) The Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege.

The parties agree that Wife has a psychotherapist-patient privilege under section 90.503(2) of the Florida Statutes as to confidential communications and records of mental health treatment or diagnosis. The issue is whether, and to what extent, it applies here. A court cannot set aside the privilege on the basis of “mere allegations of mental or emotional instability.” Oswald v. Diamond, 576 So.2d 909, 910 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991). Any invasion of the privilege must be limited to what is demonstrably necessary on the facts of each case. Further, where parenting is at issue, “[w]hat is relevant to the trial court’s determination regarding child custody is the parties’ present ability and condition.” Schouw v. Schouw, 593 So.2d 1200, 1201 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992) (emphasis added); see also Scully, 128 So.3d at 988-89 (requiring that discovery be limited to what is relevant and temporally related); O’Neill v. O’Neill, 823 So.2d 837, 840 (Fla. 5th DCA [1119]*11192002) (holding waiver of privilege is evaluated based on what occurs “during a pending custody dispute”). Previous substance abuse problems and treatment, without more, are insufficient to invade the privilege. Koch v. Koch, 961 So.2d 1134, 1135 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007).

Here, the trial court did not appropriately limit the temporal reach of its order, even assuming the facts otherwise justified overcoming the privilege. Husband’s most recent motion requested only three years’ worth of discovery, but the court granted access to seven years’ worth of records, without explaining why. In further proceedings, the parties and the trial court must focus on Wife’s present parenting ability and fitness. If older records are pertinent to present ability, the trial court may order disclosure upon proper findings; but there must be some basis for doing so.

(2) Waiver.

Next, we consider whether Wife waived her psychotherapist-patient privilege. A court may deem the privilege involuntarily waived under extreme circumstances. In O’Neill, for instance, an involuntary waiver occurred when the court found the existence of a “calamitous event” after a mother threatened to kill herself and her children and then voluntarily committed herself to a psychiatric ward. 823 So.2d at 840. See also Miraglia v. Miraglia, 462 So.2d 507, 507-08 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984) (allowing testimony of former wife’s psychiatrist following wife’s suicide attempt undertaken while final judgment of dissolution was pending on rehearing); Critchlow v. Critchlow, 347 So.2d 453, 455 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977) (finding wife’s voluntary commitment for mental health treatment during custody dispute constituted waiver).

It appears the trial court either deemed the Marchman Act proceeding itself a “calamitous event,” or relied on Wife’s behavior before the Marchman Act proceeding as constituting the “event.” At this juncture we need not determine whether a course of past conduct can constitute a “calamitous event.” If and only if Husband adduces appropriately recent competent evidence of a genuine “calamitous event” could the trial court properly evaluate the existence of such an event as a potential involuntary waiver of Wife’s privilege, and then only after an evidentiary hearing.4

(3) Effect of Independent Evaluation.

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Bluebook (online)
213 So. 3d 1115, 2017 WL 1134816, 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 3977, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zarzaur-v-zarzaur-fladistctapp-2017.