North Carolina General Statutes 90-685.1. Confidentiality of Committee investigative information
(a) All records, papers, investigative files, investigative reports, other investigative information, and other documents containing information in the possession of or received or gathered by the Committee or its members or employees as a result of investigations, inquiries, or interviews conducted in connection with a licensing, complaint, or disciplinary matter shall not be considered public records within the meaning of Chapter 132 of the N.C. Gen. Stat. and are privileged, confidential, and not subject to discovery, subpoena, or other means of legal compulsion for release to any person other than the Committee, its employees, or agents involved in the application for license or discipline of a license holder, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section. For purposes of this subsection, investigative information includes information relating to the identity of, and a report made by, a perfusionist, or other person performing an expert review for the Committee.
(b) The Committee shall provide the licensee or applicant with access to all information in its possession that the Committee intends to offer into evidence in presenting its case in chief at the contested hearing on the matter, subject to any privilege or restriction set forth by rule, statute, or legal precedent, upon written request from a licensee or applicant who is the subject of a complaint or investigation, or from the licensee’s or applicant’s counsel, unless good cause is shown for delay. The Committee is not required to provide any of the following:
(1) A Committee investigative report.
(2) The identity of a nontestifying complainant.
(3) Attorney-client communications, attorney work product, or other materials covered by a privilege recognized by the Rules of Civil Procedure or the Rules of Evidence. (2007-525, s. 9.)
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 90-685.1
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- 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.
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.