United States v. Rodriguez

The question before us is whether appellant’s June 1996 statements to Doctor Alfano (a civilian psychiatrist in government employment) were privileged and thus inadmissible at his court-martial in January of 1997. These statements were made by appellant while he was hospitalized at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his stomach which had earlier caused his transfer back from Bosnia where he was deployed. Doctor Alfano’s purpose in treating appellant was to develop a disposition plan, i.e., to determine whether he should be returned to duty or…