Tiger Woods' lawyer fights subpoena for prescriptions, cites intrusion

by · UPI

April 16 (UPI) -- Tiger Woods' lawyer has cited an "intrusion" of privacy in response to a state subpoena for his prescription drug records, according to recent court filings.

Attorney Douglas Duncan filed a motion Tuesday n Martin County, Fla., arguing that the subpoena can't be issued without a hearing. That's because, Duncan wrote, Woods' constitutional privacy right required the state to first prove the records' relevance before any intrusion.

Prosecutors had filed a motion for subpoena in Woods' home county seeking the prescription records from Lewis Pharmacy in Palm Beach, Fla., showing the medications dispensed to Woods.

That filing requested that the pharmacy include the date and time prescriptions were filled, type of prescriptions, number of pills in each prescription, dosage amount, special instructions on how to take the medicine, date of next refill and "all warnings including but not limited to operating a motor vehicle while taking the prescription" from Jan. 1 to March 27.

Related

Lewis Pharmacy is about 25 miles south of where Woods was arrested for his role in a rollover crash March 27 in Jupiter, Island, Fla. Woods faces charges of misdemeanor DUI and refusal to submit to a lawful test and distracted driving, which is a moving violation.

Woods pleaded not guilty March 31. Duncan's filing Tuesday said Woods "has a constitutional right to privacy interest in his prescription records."

"This right to privacy is admittedly not absolute should the state show the relevance of the records to its criminal investigation and thus warrant the intrusion into Mr. Woods' privacy," the filing said.

The filing also requested for the court to enter a protective order governing the use and release of the records, if the court grants the request to issue the subpoena. Duncan specifically requested that the records not be disclosed to any third party, including through public records requests.

Golfer Tiger Woods is shown in his booking photo March 27 in Stuart, Fla. Photo by the Martin County Sheriff's Office

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. He had been arrested on a DUI charge in 2017 and said then that he had an unexpected reaction to prescription medicine.

Woods announced March 31 he was stepping away from golf. A day later, a circuit judge granted a request for Woods to travel outside the United States to enter "comprehensive inpatient treatment."

His private jet landed in Zurich, Switzerland, on the same day the judge granted the request for travel.

Woods has a status hearing scheduled for May 5 in Stuart, Fla.

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