Bylaws Withheld in Saint Francis Hospital / Reardon Sex Abuse Cases

In follow-up to yesterday’s post, the August 1, 2011 court ruling in the Saint Francis Hospital / Reardon sex abuse case, let’s examine what evidence was improperly withheld by the defense lawyers. The lawyers for Saint Francis Hospital only recently turned over to the victim’s lawyers, Saint Francis Hospital’s medical staff bylaws for 8 years from early 1960 to early 1980. These bylaws set forth procedures for the hospital when reviewing research by it’s medical staff. The victims allege that the abuse by Reardon would have stopped if Saint Francis Hospital complied with this written policy of the doctors who worked at Saint Francis Hospital. These were safeguards by Saint Francis Hospital which were not followed.

The bylaws were clearly relevant to the victim’s claims. And the judge found that the defense lawyer’s failure to provide this evidence to the victims was unethical. This information was requested by the victim’s lawyers during the years leading up to trial but the defense lawyers for Saint Francis Hospital failed to turn any of this evidence over until mid-way through the second victim’s trial. During the second trial they turned over only the tip of the iceberg. The remaining bylaws were turned over in connection with a motion for sanctions filed after the second trial, only after the verdict for more than $2,000,000 against Saint Francis Hospital. The third trial is coming up soon, these never before seen bylaws will play an important role in upcoming trials.

To learn more about the Saint Francis Hospital / Reardon sex abuse cases, click here for the article printed in the Hartford Courant.