Top state court nixes conviction based on testimony by anger-management therapist
A therapist for a man in court-ordered anger management counseling did nothing wrong by reporting that the client wanted to hurt a child protection worker he blamed for standing in the way of the reunion he sought with his children.
But the therapist should not have been allowed to testify against client Jerry Expose Jr. in a new terroristic threats prosecution that was brought over his comments about the Ramsey County child protection worker, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled (PDF) on Wednesday.
An earlier terroristic threats conviction concerning Expose’s threats to kill his ex-girlfriend, her unborn child and the couple’s 6-year-old daughter was the reason why Expose was in counseling, reports the Pioneer Press.
While state law allowed the therapist to reveal confidential information to a third party who might be a future victim of a crime, therapist-client confidentiality provisions prohibited the therapist from testifying against Expose in the criminal case, the court said.
Thus, the supreme court reversed Expose’s conviction in the most recent case because the trial court abused its discretion by allowing this testimony.
