Judge grants prosecutors access to Tiger Woods' prescription records

by · UPI

May 12 (UPI) -- A Florida Judge granted prosecutors' request for a subpoena of Tiger Woods' prescription drug records at a hearing Tuesday.

The decision by Martin County Judge Darren Steele was the latest chapter in Woods' legal battle, stemming from his arrest in March, which led to charges of driving under the influence and refusal to submit to a lawful test and distracted driving, which is a moving violation.

Martin County court records show that prosecutors filed a motion for the subpoena last month, seeking prescription records from Lewis Pharmacy in Palm Beach, Fla., showing medications dispensed to the golf icon.

A week later, Woods' attorney, Douglas Duncan, filed a motion arguing that the subpoena can't be issued without a hearing.

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Duncan cited Woods' "constitutional right to privacy interest" in the records and requested for a hearing to determine if they were "relevant to a criminal investigation."

On Tuesday, the parties agreed that the records would only be made available to prosecutors, law enforcement, expert witnesses and Woods' defense team. They will not be available through open records law and will be hidden from the public.

Woods pleaded not guilty March 31 to the DUI charge. He later announced he would step away from golf and received legal permission to leave the country for treatment. He did not attend Tuesday's hearing.

Through the subpoena, prosecutors are seeking to find out the date and time Woods' prescriptions were filled, the number of pills, instructions, dosage, refill dates and all warnings for the prescriptions he took from Jan. 1 to March 27.

Lewis Pharmacy, where Woods allegedly filled prescriptions, is about 25 miles south of where Woods was arrested for his role in a rollover crash March 27 in Jupiter, Island, Fla.

An arrest affidavit from the Martin County Sheriff's Office said officers observed Woods "sweating profusely" and that he possessed hydrocodone pills after his crash.

They also said he had "bloodshot and glassy" eyes, was "lethargic and slow" and "limping and stumbling" between field sobriety tests. Woods told sheriff's deputies he took prescription medication on the morning of the crash.

An officer found two hydrocodone pills inside his pants pocket during a search.

Woods, who also was arrested on a DUI charge in 2017, said then that he had an unexpected reaction to prescription medicine. A toxicology report found that he had Vicodin, Xanax, Ambien, Dilaudid and THC in his system during that arrest.

Woods pled guilty to reckless driving, and his DUI charges were dropped from that incident.

A status conference in the recent arrest is scheduled June 2.

Tiger Woods' career: Golf, championships, fame

Tiger Woods swings during the second round of the U.S. Open in Bethesda, Md., on June 13, 1997. The following April, Woods became the youngest Masters Tournament winner. Photo by Jay Clark/UPI | License Photo