EVERETT — A judge on Wednesday refused to seal medical records of a mentally ill man who violently attacked an Everett woman and now is locked up for life.
A lawyer defending Compass Health in a lawsuit argued that the records of Anthony Viscussi and medical information held by a former mental health counselor should be kept from public scrutiny.
Judge J. Robert Leach denied the motion to seal the documents, ruling in favor of public access.
Leach found that Viscussi, who is serving life sentence without the possibility of parole, had a “diminished expectation of privacy” to his medical records. The former Everett man previously had agreed to provide lawyers representing a woman he beat to have access to the documents.
The arguments made in Snohomish Count Superior Court Wednesday are part of a lawsuit filed by Theresa Lindberg against Compass Health, which was counseling Viscussi at the time he attacked her. She also is suing the state’s corrections and mental health systems.
Her attorney, Frank Shoichet, said Viscussi, who had a history of mental health problems, was wrongly allowed to live in an Everett apartment across the street from the victim. He beat her with a metal bar in 2006 after she picked up her kindergartner from the bus.
In 2007, Viscussi pleaded guilty to the unprovoked attack, which occurred in front of Lindberg’s 6-year-old son.
Compass records about treatment of a dangerous offender who was placed in an Everett neighborhood under a government program should be open to the public, Shoichet said. Viscussi was placed in the neighborhood under Washington’s Dangerous Mentally Ill Offender program, while he was being supervised by the state Department of Corrections.
Viscussi was a poor candidate for placement in the neighborhood, Shoichet said.
“What part of dangerous and mentally ill and offender did they not understand?” he asked.
Attorney Kirsten Schultz, who represented Compass, said that agency has a limited role in the lawsuit and that the case highlighted the importance of protecting medical privacy.
“It’s broader than just his records,” she said.
Viscussi earlier agreed to give Lindberg’s lawyers access to his records, and that position weakened the argument that the documents now should be sealed from potential public scrutiny, Shoichet said.
The judge agreed.
“It appears that the horse has left the barn,” Leach said.
Lindberg said she continues to suffer from depression, short-term memory loss and post-traumatic stress syndrome.
“It changed my life,” the mother of five said.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com
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