FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – Lawyers for Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz said Friday that his confidential medical records were improperly disclosed to a state investigative panel by someone in the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
The attorneys asked Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer to hold another hearing on whether the sheriff’s office should be held in contempt of court for providing the records to the state commission investigating the shooting. They say access was limited by Scherer’s court order to only certain authorized investigators and prosecutors in the criminal case.
“Not only is it a violation of the court order, but it’s a violation of federal law,” said Cruz attorney Melisa McNeill, referring to federal protections of medical and mental health records. The law “encourages people to get treatment knowing that those records will be kept confidential.”
Sheriff’s office attorney Christian Tsoubanos said there was no intent to violate any court orders or federal law, and he’s been unable to determine who at the agency may have given the records to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission.
“This is not the Broward Sheriff’s Office deflecting blame. If we did release those records, it was a mistake,” Tsoubanos said. “We would not purposely or knowingly violate the court’s order or try to circumvent the court’s order.”