## Facts

- Mary Kathleen Cole shot and killed her ex-husband, Dr. Alan Tyler, in his office at the Wilden Clinic on September 15, 1977.
- After the shooting, Cole went to the reception area, stated she had “shot her husband,” called police, and waited at the clinic.
- At an initial appearance, a magistrate entered an order directing Cole to undergo psychiatric and physical examination and evaluation at Iowa Lutheran Hospital.
- Cole was examined by Dr. Michael Taylor, a psychiatrist who had been treating her before the shooting, and later by Dr. Vernon Varner, who replaced Taylor.
- Cole gave notice that she would rely on a diminished-capacity defense.
- Over Cole’s objections, the trial court permitted the State to obtain psychiatric evidence through pretrial deposition practice (including Varner’s deposition) and allowed Taylor to testify for the State at trial.
- After a jury-waived bench trial, Cole was convicted of first-degree murder under Iowa Code § 690.2 (1977).
- The trial court also admitted items seized from Cole’s automobile and ordered a deposition of Cole’s husband.

## Issues

1. Whether Iowa Code § 622.10 (doctor-patient privilege) barred the State from using testimony or deposition evidence from psychiatrists involved in court-ordered evaluations and prior treatment when the defendant asserted diminished capacity.
2. Whether the admission of items seized from the defendant’s automobile required reversal.
3. Whether ordering a deposition of the defendant’s husband was reversible error.

## Decision

- The conviction was affirmed.
- Psychiatric evidence from the psychiatrists was admissible because the statutory privilege did not apply to the court-ordered evaluative context and, to any extent it could apply, it was waived when Cole placed her mental condition at issue through a diminished-capacity defense.
- Admission of objects seized from the automobile did not warrant reversal; any assumed error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
- Ordering the husband’s deposition was not reversible error.

## Legal Principles

- Iowa Code § 622.10 applies only if the proponent establishes: (1) a doctor-patient relationship, (2) information acquired during that relationship, and (3) the information was necessary for treatment.
- Communications made in a court-ordered psychiatric examination for forensic purposes may fall outside § 622.10 because they are not “necessary and proper” for treatment within the statute’s scope.
- When a defendant affirmatively places mental condition in issue through a mental-state defense (including diminished capacity), the defendant cannot use the doctor-patient privilege to prevent the State from obtaining and presenting psychiatric evidence bearing on that condition; any privilege protection is treated as inapplicable or waived to that extent.
- Evidentiary error regarding physical exhibits does not require reversal if it is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.

## Conclusion

The Iowa Supreme Court upheld Cole’s first-degree murder conviction, ruling that § 622.10 did not exclude psychiatric evidence arising from court-ordered evaluations and that asserting diminished capacity permitted the State to use psychiatric testimony relevant to Cole’s mental condition; the remaining evidentiary and discovery challenges did not justify reversal.


State v. Cole, 295 N.W.2d 29 (Iowa 1980)