Hawaii Revised Statutes 321-505 – Use of information and records from mortality reviews of deaths of persons with developmental or intellectual disabilities
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this part, all information and records acquired by the department during its multidisciplinary and multiagency mortality reviews of deaths of persons with developmental or intellectual disabilities pursuant to this part shall be kept confidential and may be disclosed only as necessary to carry out the purposes of this part.
Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
Person with developmental or intellectual disabilities: means an adult with a developmental or intellectual disability. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 321-502
Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
(b) Information and statistical compilations of data from the multidisciplinary and multiagency mortality reviews of deaths of persons with developmental or intellectual disabilities that do not contain any information that would permit the identification of any person shall be public records.(c) No individual participating in the department’s multidisciplinary and multiagency mortality review of the death of a person with developmental or intellectual disabilities may be questioned in any civil or criminal proceeding regarding information presented in, or opinions formed as a result of, a meeting of the multidisciplinary and multiagency mortality review of deaths of persons with developmental or intellectual disabilities. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prevent a person from testifying to information obtained independently of the department’s multidisciplinary and multiagency mortality review of deaths of persons with developmental or intellectual disabilities, or that is public information, or where disclosure is required by law or court order.(d) Information held by the department as a result of a multidisciplinary and multiagency mortality review of the death of a person with developmental or intellectual disabilities conducted under this part shall not be subject to subpoena, discovery, or introduction into evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding, except that information otherwise available from other sources shall not be immune from subpoena, discovery, or introduction into evidence through those sources solely because it was provided as required by this part.
