Maldonado v. Super. Ct.

Petitioner faced charges of first degree murder with a special circumstance. In compliance with his statutory pretrial discovery obligations, he notified the prosecution of his intent to introduce evidence, through designated expert witnesses, that he suffered from neurocognitive deficits as a result of childhood brain trauma or congenital brain dysfunction. In response, the prosecution obtained an order for his examination by a psychiatrist, a psychologist, and a neurologist chosen by the prosecution. Invoking his federal constitutional rights to counsel and against self-incrimination, petitioner sought various protective orders as conditions of his submission to court-ordered mental examinations. The court held that, by forcing the trial court to resolve defense claims of privilege prior to trial, without prosecutorial access to the evidence in dispute, the Court of Appeal majority has imposed procedures that were neither required nor justified by the Fifth and Sixth Amendments, and were manifestly unfair to the prosecution. Therefore, the court reversed the judgment with directions to deny the petition for mandamus. View "Maldonado v. Super. Ct." on Justia Law