_______________________________________________
HOUSE
BILL 1425
_______________________________________________
AS
AMENDED BY THE SENATE
Passed
Legislature - 1995 Regular Session
State of Washington 54th
Legislature 1995 Regular Session
By
Read first time 01/25/95.
Referred to Committee on Law and Justice.
Protecting
privileged communication.
AN ACT
Relating to privileged communications; and amending RCW 5.60.060.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE
OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
5.60.060 and 1989 c 271 s 301 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A
husband shall not be examined for or against his wife, without the consent of
the wife, nor a wife for or against her husband without the consent of the
husband; nor can either during marriage or afterward, be without the consent of
the other, examined as to any communication made by one to the other during
marriage. But this exception shall not apply to a civil action or proceeding
by one against the other, nor to a criminal action or proceeding for a crime
committed by one against the other, nor to a criminal action or proceeding
against a spouse if the marriage occurred subsequent to the filing of formal
charges against the defendant, nor to a criminal action or proceeding for a
crime committed by said husband or wife against any child of whom said husband
or wife is the parent or guardian, nor to a proceeding under chapter 70.96A or
71.05 RCW: PROVIDED, That the spouse of a person sought to be detained under
chapter 70.96A or 71.05 RCW may not be compelled to testify and shall be so
informed by the court prior to being called as a witness.
(2) An
attorney or counselor shall not, without the consent of his or her client, be
examined as to any communication made by the client to him or her, or his or
her advice given thereon in the course of professional employment.
(3) A
member of the clergy or a priest shall not, without the consent of a person
making the confession, be examined as to any confession made to him or her in
his or her professional character, in the course of discipline enjoined by the
church to which he or she belongs.
(4)
Subject to the limitations under RCW 70.96A.140 or 71.05.250, a physician or
surgeon or osteopathic physician or surgeon shall not, without the consent of
his or her patient, be examined in a civil action as to any information
acquired in attending such patient, which was necessary to enable him or her to
prescribe or act for the patient, except as follows:
(a) In
any judicial proceedings regarding a child's injury, neglect, or sexual abuse
or the cause thereof; and
(b)
Ninety days after filing an action for personal injuries or wrongful death, the
claimant shall be deemed to waive the physician-patient privilege. Waiver of
the physician-patient privilege for any one physician or condition constitutes
a waiver of the privilege as to all physicians or conditions, subject to such
limitations as a court may impose pursuant to court rules.
(5) A
public officer shall not be examined as a witness as to communications made to
him or her in official confidence, when the public interest would suffer by the
disclosure.
(6)(a)
A peer support group counselor shall not, without consent of the law
enforcement officer making the communication, be compelled to testify about any
communication made to the counselor by the officer while receiving counseling.
The counselor must be designated as such by the sheriff, police chief, or chief
of the Washington state patrol, prior to the incident that results in
counseling. The privilege only applies when the communication was made to the
counselor while acting in his or her capacity as a peer support group
counselor. The privilege does not apply if the counselor was an initial
responding officer, a witness, or a party to the incident which prompted the
delivery of peer support group counseling services to the law enforcement
officer.
(b)
For purposes of this section, "peer support group counselor" means a:
(i)
Law enforcement officer, or civilian employee of a law enforcement agency, who
has received training to provide emotional and moral support and counseling to
an officer who needs those services as a result of an incident in which the
officer was involved while acting in his or her official capacity; or
(ii)
Nonemployee counselor who has been designated by the sheriff, police chief, or
chief of the Washington state patrol to provide emotional and moral support and
counseling to an officer who needs those services as a result of an incident in
which the officer was involved while acting in his or her official capacity.
