More than two years after former Asante nurse Dani Marie Schofield was indicted, her trial remains delayed as attorneys dispute a subpoena seeking information about blood infections at the Medford hospital.
At a Wednesday hearing in Jackson County Circuit Court, attorneys for Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center asked Judge Lorenzo Mejia to quash the subpoena from Schofield’s defense team.
Schofield, who is free on bail, faces 44 counts of second-degree assault. Prosecutors accuse her of diverting patients’ fentanyl and replacing it with nonsterile tap water, causing serious infections
Sixteen of the 44 patients named in the indictment later died.
Asante argued that the defense subpoena was overly broad, sought information irrelevant to the criminal case and could compromise patient privacy.
"This is a fishing expedition, and the case law says we can't do that here,” Asante attorney Mitchell Diesko said.
Schofield’s attorney, Kristen Winemiller, said the subpoena did not seek information that would identify individual patients.
Winemiller said information on blood infections is relevant because Asante only reported 22 infections to the Oregon Health Authority during the timeframe of the indictment, while Schofield is accused of causing 44 infections.
“There seems to be a difference in the reporting there, and we’re trying to figure out why that is and what the significance of that is,” Winemiller said.
Schofield’s trial had been scheduled to begin this month but was canceled amid unresolved discovery disputes.
Mejia, the fourth judge assigned to the case, questioned why the trial had been scheduled before those disputes were resolved.
“Why was the trial set if there were all these discovery issues?” he asked.
Mejia came out of retirement to oversee the case after Judge David Hoppe’s reassignment. Jackson County District Attorney Beth Heckert had objected to the change.
The judge gave Schofield’s attorneys three weeks to revise the subpoena and submit additional arguments. Asante will then have 21 days to respond.
“Let’s kick this down the road aways,” Mejia said.
The next status hearing is scheduled for October.
