Attorney claims prosecutor had documents on his client

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Updated: January 16, 2012 9:44PM

A defense attorney is seeking sanctions against a deputy prosecutor after alleging she already had medical records in her possession that she told the judge she wanted.

Attorney Jerry Peteet, whose client, Thaddeus Rodriguez, is scheduled to be retried on rape and other charges following a mistrial, asked Lake Superior Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr., to impose sanctions and disciplinary actions over medical records regarding Rodriguez’s treatment for a broken nose.

Stefaniak set a Jan. 20 hearing on the request.

Peteet said his client never signed a form releasing his medical records, yet deputy Michelle Jatkiewicz obtained them for Rodriguez’s treatment on Nov. 30 after he was punched by co-defendant Hiram Perez-Diaz, who has agreed to testify against Rodriguez.

Jatkiewicz said she received the records through a subpoena and acknowledged she failed to turn them over to Rodriguez’s former attorney, Lemuel Stigler, on Dec. 2, when Stefaniak granted a mistrial based on Rodriguez’s evaluation that he needed to go directly to the hospital and would require surgery.

Stefaniak ordered her to provide the records to Peteet.

In court two weeks ago, Jatkiewicz asked for records from Rodriguez’s Dec. 2 hospital visit and subsequent treatment and denied saying at a Jan. 5 hearing that she had those records in hand.

Peteet said he also had met with roadblocks in obtaining addresses to subpoena witnesses for depositions, including of the victim and an emergency room physician, both of whom testified at Rodriguez’s first trial.

The victim also sat for a deposition with Stigler.

“Re-deposing her is nothing more than harassment,” Jatkiewicz said of the woman who has since moved out of state.

Peteet said his trial strategy and practice of law differs from that of Stigler and he’s entitled to be able to question the witnesses before Rodriguez’s trial, scheduled to begin Feb. 6.

At the Jan. 5 hearing, Peteet asked Stefaniak to ban attorneys from congregating outside the judge’s office “jaw jacking” and drinking coffee.

Stefaniak told him prosecutors and defense attorneys are both welcome and do socialize with court staff, but the judge agreed to ban the practice when the Rodriguez case is being tried.