California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Reber, 177 Cal.App.3d 523, 223 Cal.Rptr. 139 (Cal. App. 1986):
After conducting an in camera examination of at least some of the records under subpoena, the court issued a partial protective order (1) precluding further discovery and evidentiary use of confidential communications between the patient-witnesses and their psychotherapists but (2) making available for defendants' use at trial all other records concerning the mental condition of the witnesses which revealed that either had suffered from "hallucinations or delusions of a severe nature." The ruling was based on then extant Evidence Code section 1028 (repealed Stats.1985, ch. 1077), which limited the psychotherapist-patient privilege in a criminal proceeding to patient relationships with psychiatrists and licensed psychologists, excluding other credentialed mental health therapists. (See People v. Gomez (1982) 134 Cal.App.3d 874, 880, 185 Cal.Rptr. 155.)
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