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595.02 TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES.
    Subdivision 1. Competency of witnesses. Every person of sufficient understanding,
including a party, may testify in any action or proceeding, civil or criminal, in court or before any
person who has authority to receive evidence, except as provided in this subdivision:
    (a) A husband cannot be examined for or against his wife without her consent, nor a wife for
or against her husband without his consent, nor can either, during the marriage or afterwards,
without the consent of the other, be examined as to any communication made by one to the other
during the marriage. This exception does not apply to a civil action or proceeding by one against
the other, nor to a criminal action or proceeding for a crime committed by one against the other or
against a child of either or against a child under the care of either spouse, nor to a criminal action
or proceeding in which one is charged with homicide or an attempt to commit homicide and the
date of the marriage of the defendant is subsequent to the date of the offense, nor to an action or
proceeding for nonsupport, neglect, dependency, or termination of parental rights.
    (b) An attorney cannot, without the consent of the attorney's client, be examined as to any
communication made by the client to the attorney or the attorney's advice given thereon in
the course of professional duty; nor can any employee of the attorney be examined as to the
communication or advice, without the client's consent.
    (c) A member of the clergy or other minister of any religion shall not, without the consent
of the party making the confession, be allowed to disclose a confession made to the member of
the clergy or other minister in a professional character, in the course of discipline enjoined by
the rules or practice of the religious body to which the member of the clergy or other minister
belongs; nor shall a member of the clergy or other minister of any religion be examined as to
any communication made to the member of the clergy or other minister by any person seeking
religious or spiritual advice, aid, or comfort or advice given thereon in the course of the member
of the clergy's or other minister's professional character, without the consent of the person.
    (d) A licensed physician or surgeon, dentist, or chiropractor shall not, without the consent
of the patient, be allowed to disclose any information or any opinion based thereon which the
professional acquired in attending the patient in a professional capacity, and which was necessary
to enable the professional to act in that capacity; after the decease of the patient, in an action to
recover insurance benefits, where the insurance has been in existence two years or more, the
beneficiaries shall be deemed to be the personal representatives of the deceased person for the
purpose of waiving this privilege, and no oral or written waiver of the privilege shall have any
binding force or effect except when made upon the trial or examination where the evidence is
offered or received.
    (e) A public officer shall not be allowed to disclose communications made to the officer in
official confidence when the public interest would suffer by the disclosure.
    (f) Persons of unsound mind and persons intoxicated at the time of their production for
examination are not competent witnesses if they lack capacity to remember or to relate truthfully
facts respecting which they are examined.
    (g) A registered nurse, psychologist, consulting psychologist, or licensed social worker
engaged in a psychological or social assessment or treatment of an individual at the individual's
request shall not, without the consent of the professional's client, be allowed to disclose any
information or opinion based thereon which the professional has acquired in attending the
client in a professional capacity, and which was necessary to enable the professional to act in
that capacity. Nothing in this clause exempts licensed social workers from compliance with the
provisions of sections 626.556 and 626.557.
    (h) An interpreter for a person disabled in communication shall not, without the consent
of the person, be allowed to disclose any communication if the communication would, if the
interpreter were not present, be privileged. For purposes of this section, a "person disabled in
communication" means a person who, because of a hearing, speech or other communication
disorder, or because of the inability to speak or comprehend the English language, is unable to
understand the proceedings in which the person is required to participate. The presence of an
interpreter as an aid to communication does not destroy an otherwise existing privilege.
    (i) Licensed chemical dependency counselors shall not disclose information or an opinion
based on the information which they acquire from persons consulting them in their professional
capacities, and which was necessary to enable them to act in that capacity, except that they may
do so:
    (1) when informed consent has been obtained in writing, except in those circumstances
in which not to do so would violate the law or would result in clear and imminent danger to
the client or others;
    (2) when the communications reveal the contemplation or ongoing commission of a crime; or
    (3) when the consulting person waives the privilege by bringing suit or filing charges against
the licensed professional whom that person consulted.
    (j) A parent or the parent's minor child may not be examined as to any communication made
in confidence by the minor to the minor's parent. A communication is confidential if made out of
the presence of persons not members of the child's immediate family living in the same household.
This exception may be waived by express consent to disclosure by a parent entitled to claim the
privilege or by the child who made the communication or by failure of the child or parent to object
when the contents of a communication are demanded. This exception does not apply to a civil
action or proceeding by one spouse against the other or by a parent or child against the other, nor
to a proceeding to commit either the child or parent to whom the communication was made or to
place the person or property or either under the control of another because of an alleged mental or
physical condition, nor to a criminal action or proceeding in which the parent is charged with a
crime committed against the person or property of the communicating child, the parent's spouse,
or a child of either the parent or the parent's spouse, or in which a child is charged with a crime or
act of delinquency committed against the person or property of a parent or a child of a parent, nor
to an action or proceeding for termination of parental rights, nor any other action or proceeding on
a petition alleging child abuse, child neglect, abandonment or nonsupport by a parent.
    (k) Sexual assault counselors may not be allowed to disclose any opinion or information
received from or about the victim without the consent of the victim. However, a counselor may be
compelled to identify or disclose information in investigations or proceedings related to neglect or
termination of parental rights if the court determines good cause exists. In determining whether to
compel disclosure, the court shall weigh the public interest and need for disclosure against the
effect on the victim, the treatment relationship, and the treatment services if disclosure occurs.
Nothing in this clause exempts sexual assault counselors from compliance with the provisions
of sections 626.556 and 626.557.
    "Sexual assault counselor" for the purpose of this section means a person who has undergone
at least 40 hours of crisis counseling training and works under the direction of a supervisor in a
crisis center, whose primary purpose is to render advice, counseling, or assistance to victims of
sexual assault.
    (l) A person cannot be examined as to any communication or document, including worknotes,
made or used in the course of or because of mediation pursuant to an agreement to mediate.
This does not apply to the parties in the dispute in an application to a court by a party to have a
mediated settlement agreement set aside or reformed. A communication or document otherwise
not privileged does not become privileged because of this paragraph. This paragraph is not
intended to limit the privilege accorded to communication during mediation by the common law.
    (m) A child under ten years of age is a competent witness unless the court finds that the child
lacks the capacity to remember or to relate truthfully facts respecting which the child is examined.
A child describing any act or event may use language appropriate for a child of that age.
    (n) A communication assistant for a telecommunications relay system for
communication-impaired persons shall not, without the consent of the person making the
communication, be allowed to disclose communications made to the communication assistant
for the purpose of relaying.
    Subd. 1a. Alternative dispute resolution privilege. No person presiding at any alternative
dispute resolution proceeding established pursuant to law, court rule, or by an agreement to
mediate, shall be competent to testify, in any subsequent civil proceeding or administrative
hearing, as to any statement, conduct, decision, or ruling, occurring at or in conjunction with the
prior proceeding, except as to any statement or conduct that could:
(1) constitute a crime;
(2) give rise to disqualification proceedings under the Rules of Professional Conduct for
attorneys; or
(3) constitute professional misconduct.
    Subd. 2. Exceptions. (a) The exception provided by paragraphs (d) and (g) of subdivision 1
shall not apply to any testimony, records, or other evidence relating to the abuse or neglect of a
minor in any proceeding under chapter 260 or any proceeding under section 245A.08, to revoke a
day care or foster care license, arising out of the neglect or physical or sexual abuse of a minor,
as defined in section 626.556, subdivision 2.
(b) The exception provided by paragraphs (d) and (g) of subdivision 1 shall not apply to
criminal proceedings arising out of the neglect or physical or sexual abuse of a minor, as defined
in section 626.556, subdivision 2, if the court finds that:
(1) there is a reasonable likelihood that the records in question will disclose material
information or evidence of substantial value in connection with the investigation or prosecution;
and
(2) there is no other practicable way of obtaining the information or evidence. This clause
shall not be construed to prohibit disclosure of the patient record when it supports the otherwise
uncorroborated statements of any material fact by a minor alleged to have been abused or
neglected by the patient; and
(3) the actual or potential injury to the patient-health professional relationship in the
treatment program affected, and the actual or potential harm to the ability of the program to attract
and retain patients, is outweighed by the public interest in authorizing the disclosure sought.
No records may be disclosed under this paragraph other than the records of the specific
patient suspected of the neglect or abuse of a minor. Disclosure and dissemination of any
information from a patient record shall be limited under the terms of the order to assure that
no information will be disclosed unnecessarily and that dissemination will be no wider than
necessary for purposes of the investigation or prosecution.
    Subd. 3. Certain out-of-court statements admissible. An out-of-court statement made by
a child under the age of ten years or a person who is mentally impaired as defined in section
609.341, subdivision 6, alleging, explaining, denying, or describing any act of sexual contact or
penetration performed with or on the child or any act of physical abuse of the child or the person
who is mentally impaired by another, not otherwise admissible by statute or rule of evidence, is
admissible as substantive evidence if:
(a) the court or person authorized to receive evidence finds, in a hearing conducted outside
of the presence of the jury, that the time, content, and circumstances of the statement and the
reliability of the person to whom the statement is made provide sufficient indicia of reliability; and
(b) the child or person mentally impaired as defined in section 609.341, subdivision 6, either:
(i) testifies at the proceedings; or
(ii) is unavailable as a witness and there is corroborative evidence of the act; and
(c) the proponent of the statement notifies the adverse party of the proponent's intention to
offer the statement and the particulars of the statement sufficiently in advance of the proceeding at
which the proponent intends to offer the statement into evidence to provide the adverse party with
a fair opportunity to prepare to meet the statement.
For purposes of this subdivision, an out-of-court statement includes video, audio, or other
recorded statements. An unavailable witness includes an incompetent witness.
    Subd. 4. Court order. (a) In a proceeding in which a child less than 12 years of age is
alleging, denying, or describing:
(1) an act of physical abuse or an act of sexual contact or penetration performed with or on
the child or any other person by another; or
(2) an act that constitutes a crime of violence committed against the child or any other person,
the court may, upon its own motion or upon the motion of any party, order that the testimony of
the child be taken in a room other than the courtroom or in the courtroom and televised at the
same time by closed-circuit equipment, or recorded for later showing to be viewed by the jury in
the proceeding, to minimize the trauma to the child of testifying in the courtroom setting and,
where necessary, to provide a setting more amenable to securing the child witness's uninhibited,
truthful testimony.
(b) At the taking of testimony under this subdivision, only the judge, the attorneys for the
defendant and for the state, any person whose presence would contribute to the welfare and
well-being of the child, persons necessary to operate the recording or closed-circuit equipment
and, in a child protection proceeding under chapter 260 or a dissolution or custody proceeding
under chapter 518, the attorneys for those parties with a right to participate may be present with
the child during the child's testimony.
(c) The court shall permit the defendant in a criminal or delinquency matter to observe
and hear the testimony of the child in person. If the court, upon its own motion or the motion
of any party, finds in a hearing conducted outside the presence of the jury, that the presence
of the defendant during testimony taken pursuant to this subdivision would psychologically
traumatize the witness so as to render the witness unavailable to testify, the court may order
that the testimony be taken in a manner that:
(1) the defendant can see and hear the testimony of the child in person and communicate
with counsel, but the child cannot see or hear the defendant; or
(2) the defendant can see and hear the testimony of the child by video or television
monitor from a separate room and communicate with counsel, but the child cannot see or hear
the defendant.
(d) As used in this subdivision, "crime of violence" has the meaning given it in section
624.712, subdivision 5, and includes violations of section 609.26.
    Subd. 5. Waiver of privilege for health care providers. A party who commences an
action for malpractice, error, mistake, or failure to cure, whether based on contract or tort,
against a health care provider on the person's own behalf or in a representative capacity, waives
in that action any privilege existing under subdivision 1, paragraphs (d) and (g), as to any
information or opinion in the possession of a health care provider who has examined or cared
for the party or other person whose health or medical condition has been placed in controversy
in the action. This waiver must permit all parties to the action, and their attorneys or authorized
representatives, to informally discuss the information or opinion with the health care provider if
the provider consents. Prior to an informal discussion with a health care provider, the defendant
must mail written notice to the other party at least 15 days before the discussion. The plaintiff's
attorney or authorized representative must have the opportunity to be present at any informal
discussion. Appropriate medical authorizations permitting discussion must be provided by the
party commencing the action upon request from any other party.
A health care provider may refuse to consent to the discussion but, in that event, the party
seeking the information or opinion may take the deposition of the health care provider with
respect to that information and opinion, without obtaining a prior court order.
For purposes of this subdivision, "health care provider" means a physician, surgeon, dentist,
or other health care professional or hospital, including all persons or entities providing health care
as defined in section 145.61, subdivisions 2 and 4, or a certified health care professional employed
by or providing services as an independent contractor in a hospital.
History: (9814) RL s 4660; 1919 c 513 s 1; 1931 c 206 s 1; 1967 c 640 s 1; 1969 c 1010 s 1;
1973 c 79 s 1; 1973 c 685 s 13; 1978 c 519 s 1; 1981 c 131 s 3; 1981 c 262 s 1; 1981 c 273 s 3;
1Sp1981 c 4 art 4 s 8; 1982 c 558 s 3; 1984 c 588 s 4; 1984 c 646 s 8; 1985 c 24 s 2; 1985 c 286 s
13; 1986 c 361 s 3,4; 1986 c 444; 1986 c 455 s 84; 1987 c 120 s 1; 1987 c 134 s 1; 1987 c 331 s
7; 1987 c 333 s 22; 1992 c 559 art 2 s 13; 1992 c 571 art 5 s 3; 1993 c 272 s 16; 1994 c 618
art 1 s 40; 1996 c 388 s 1; 2006 c 56 s 1; 2007 c 54 art 4 s 4

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes