法律与秩序 Law & Order S2E3 笔记

S2E3 Aria

Gaslighting / Pornographic Industry / Executor of Will / Physician-patient Privilege

◇ Typical stage-mother and gaslighting story

◇ Physician–patient privilege protects communications between a patient and his doctor from being used against the patient in court. Once a doctor takes a patient on, he or she cannot divulge any medical information about the patient to the third person without the patient's consent.

◇ Privilege does survive the death of a patient. Who can waive that privilege? If the court appoints a personal representative (administrator of the decedent's estate), they'd have the authority to sign a waiver on the decedent's behalf.

◇ Take a run at “depraved indifference to human life” depends on the decedent's dying utterance. Suicide is an independent intervening act, so the mother's actions, no matter how despicable, are not the cause-in-fact of the girl's death. Unless DA can prove that she knew her actions were making her daughter's suicide.