Criminal Charges – Nursing Board Petitions for Mental and Physical Evaluations – Remaining Silent

On Behalf of | Feb 25, 2016 | Firm News |

Effective October 2015 Pennsylvania nurses became responsible for reporting to the State Board of Nursing any criminal arrest/charge (not just conviction). The practical impact of this new reporting regulation is now being felt.Typically, criminal charges lodged against nurses relate to drug use or diversion and driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol. These criminal charges, once reported, result in “Letters of Concern” from the Voluntary Recovery Program (VRP), PHMP demands for enrollment, and possible Board action.  Nurses who do not enroll in the VRP and PHMP (which they should not – see my other blogs), typically end up having filed against them a Petition for a Mental and Physical Evaluation. This OK and not the problem, though, because now an expert will do the evaluation, not a PHMP social worker.  My many archived blogs address all aspects of the PHMP and why not to enroll.
The new wrinkle in the Petition for Mental and Physical Evaluation process, compelled vian Order to Show Cause (OSC),  is that many professionals will not have completed the criminal process involving the drug or DUI related offense. The criminal matter has yet to reach the County Common Pleas Court in which the charges originate. In some cases, the nurse has yet to be approved for ARD or even had their preliminary hearing. This significant for the professional who is ineligible for ARD.Professionals with prior criminal records (yes, you still can get a license or not loose one and incur a second offense) are ineligible for ARD. They must fight the DUI charge. In this context, every professional has a right to remain silent.  The Commonwealth must prove each element of each criminal offense without using the professional’s own words to secure a conviction. The professional has no obligation to make a statement in any criminal prosecution.  In Pennsylvania the professional does not have to help the prosecution prove any element of any offense lodged against them. This the professional’s Fifth Amendment Constitutional right to remain silent.
The criminal offense reporting regulation ignores this constitutional protection.  Expedited OSC petitions compel professionals to talk. In the Mental and Physical Evaluation, the professional is extensively queried about the criminal conduct, historical criminal activity, and recreational non-prescribed drug use. These statements are not confidential.  The Petition for Mental and Physical is authorized by the Probable Cause Screening Committee and not the entire Professional Board. The expert who conducts the evaluation and authors a report to the Commonwealth eventually testifies in a formal disciplinary hearing.

Statements to the expert are now public, subject to discovery by the criminal court prosecutor.  Routine reciprocal discovery requests in criminal cases include whether the defendant has made any prior statement, admission, or testified under oath in another proceeding regarding the facts are allegations contained in the criminal matter. The expedited disciplinary process now raises the question in civil disciplinary prosecutions whether or not the professional, contesting disciplinary action, should speak and waive their constitutional right to remain silent in the criminal context.

Courts in Pennsylvania have addressed thissue in administrative driver’s license actions.  In Pennsylvania driver’s license suspension proceedings civil trial courts routinely continue the civil license suspension trial stemming from a DUI.  These twin civil/criminal prosecutions originate from the same DUI arrest investigations when the defendant refuses to submit to a breath or drugs or alcohol test.
Practically and legally, my legal advice in these representations includes advising the DUI defendant to continue the civil matter until the DUI case is closed. The nursing board, it’s infinite wisdom, either is unaware of this process or chose to ignore professionals’ Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
All professionals should be aware of this conflict created by the Nursing Board in these expedited OSC petitions seeking Mental and Physical evaluations when a related DUI or other criminal matter is pending.  Please call me to discuss how to resolve this conflict and your professional license disciplinary matter.