What judge granting subpoena for Tiger Woods’ prescription drug records means for golf legend

Weeks following his arrest in Florida for DUI, Tiger Woods’ legal team began a fight over a subpoena for the star golfer’s prescription drug records.

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Per ESPN, in April, Woods’ attorney was pushing back on prosecutors’ attempts to subpoena the prescription records from a pharmacy. As of May, that subpoena has now been granted, per ESPN.

Woods, who said following his arrest that he was stepping away to seek treatment, had two pills labeled as hydrocodone found by officers in his pants pocket following his car crash. 

Here’s what to know about the granted subpoena for Woods’ prescription drug records following his DUI charge in March.

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Judge grants subpoena for Tiger Woods’ prescription drug records

On March 31, Woods pleaded not guilty in his DUI case following his car crash near his Florida home. Following the crash, he had been arrested for suspicion of DUI, and because he refused a urine test, he was charged with misdemeanor DUI and refusal to submit to a lawful test and distracted driving.

In the aftermath of Woods’ arrest, ESPN reported on Apr. 8 that prosecutors were planning to request a subpoena for «copies of all prescription medication records» of Woods’, seeking «the times the prescriptions were filled, the number of pills, the dosage amounts and any instructions that accompanied the pills, such as warnings about driving while taking them.»

On May 12, ESPN then reported that a Florida state judge officially granted prosecutors’ request to subpoena Woods’ prescription drug records. In a hearing in Martin County Circuit Court, Judge Darren Steele granted the state’s request to obtain those records on file at Lewis Pharmacy in Palm Beach, Florida.

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Woods was reportedly not in attendance for the hearing.

Why Tiger Woods’ attorney was pushing back on subpoena

Woods’ attorney, Douglas Duncan, has been pushing back against the attempts to access the golf star’s prescription drug records. In April, ESPN reported that court records showed that Douglas, in response to the state’s motion for a subpoena, wrote that Woods has a constitutional right to privacy interest in his prescription records, requesting the hearing to determine whether prosecutors should be allowed to obtain Woods’ records. 

«This right is admittedly not absolute should the State show the relevance of the records to its criminal investigation and thus warrant intrusion into Mr. Woods’ privacy,» Duncan wrote in the motion, per ESPN. 

However, at the requested hearing where the subpoena was granted, both sides agreed to a protective order that will make Woods’ prescription drug records available only to prosecutors, law enforcement, expert witnesses and his defense team. Those records won’t be available through state open records law and will be shielded from public view, per ESPN.

At the time of the request for Woods’ prescription records, Duncan had reportedly asked the judge in the case for a protective order that would assure they do not get released publicly.

«The records shall not be disclosed to any third parties, including Order prohibiting dissemination of the records by the State in response to any public records request,» Duncan wrote, per ESPN. «If and when it becomes necessary for the State to publicly disclose said records or any portion of said records, that a hearing must be held to determine the necessity of said disclosure.»

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