This is from Knoxville's Sentinel. Quick background: A counselor from Peninsula Hospital named Johnia Berry was murdered in 2004, and the case is still unsolved. She was very attractive and much-loved, and her murder was absolutely senseless with no clear motive.
Peninsula Hospital is the adult version of Peninsula Village.
I'm posting this because I know several former patients of PV have had extreme difficulty obtaining copies of their records. As this article shows, even the police investigating the murder of one of Peninsula's own staff hit the same stone wall.
"Patient Confidentiality" is supposed to protect the patient, and not used as a shield to keep an abusive facility from being exposed.
Berry investigators seek patients' namesBy JIM BALLOCH,
balloch@knews.comApril 24, 2007
Knox County Sheriff's Office investigators, probing the murder of Johnia Berry, are trying to get the names of men who were patients at Peninsula Hospital in a period of time leading up to her death.
But officials at the mental health facility, concerned with patient confidentiality issues, are resisting compliance with a subpoena for the records.
The issue was debated today in a hearing before a three-judge panel of the state Court of Criminal Appeals.
Berry, 21, an East Tennessee State University senior from Bristol had worked at the hospital briefly, Assistant Knox County Attorney General John Bledsoe told the judges.
She was stabbed to death in her home on Dec. 6, 2004. Her male roommate, Jason Aymami, was injured in the attack. The blood of a third person, an unidentified white male, was found at the scene.
Bledsoe told the panel that there is no current evidence linking the crime to anyone at Peninsula. He said investigators are not seeking medical information, only the names of and contact information for white males who were patients at the hospital for a specific period of time, so they can be located and interviewed, Bledsoe said.
A investigative subpoena for the information, based on affidavits by a forensic psychologist and an FBI profiler, was issued by Criminal Court Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz,
All court documents pertaining to the legal clash over the subpoena were filed under seal and remained so after today's hearing.
More details as they develop online and in Wednesday's News Sentinel.
Jim Balloch may be reached at 865-342-6315.