Word: subpoena
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When he received a subpoena last year that summoned him to give a deposition in San Francisco, Psychiatrist Joseph Lifschutz did not hesitate to comply. But when he was asked to testify about his treatment of Joseph Housek, a former patient, Lifschutz demurred. The law, he declared, should not force him to betray even the existence of a patient-therapist relationship, much less what it involved. As a result, Lifschutz was ultimately found in contempt of court and sentenced to jail until he agreed to answer...
Fear Betrayal. Subpoenas are commonly used to compel personal testimony or the production of documents before official proceedings, usually a judicial hearing such as a grand jury. They are available to both the prosecution and defense. Unlike warrants, their justification need not be demonstrated in advance before a judge, but their validity may be challenged after they are issued, on the grounds that they are oppressive, burdensome or irrelevant. Anyone failing to comply with a valid subpoena order is subject to a contempt citation and, often, jailing...
...were equally determined to protect confidential relationships. Hedley Donovan, editor in chief of Time Inc., declared: "Should we believe that there is no immediate relevance and that a law-enforcement body is on a 'fishing expedition' for information, we will take appropriate legal action to contest the subpoena...
...Chicago, the subpoena splurge began after the riotous 1968 Democratic Convention. In its wake, newspapers, magazines (including TIME and LIFE) and broadcasters received subpoenas from federal and state grand juries, U.S. and state's attorneys, the city corporation counsel and assorted individual plaintiffs and defendants in convention-related cases. The U.S. Attorney's office still has all the CBS video tape from the convention. "We can't get it back," says Salant...
...William P. Homans Jr. 41, attorney defending the Weathermen in court today, said that he knew nothing about the subpoenas. "If Mann is acting as his own counsel, he has a perfect right to subpoena whenever he wants," he said. "It is legal for anyone on trial to subpoena someone to serve as a witness in his case, if the subpoena is properly notarized...