Lawyers will not object to release of Melinda Duckett's mental-health records

Sentinel Staff Writer
11:53 AM EST, January 5, 2009

.
Lawyers suing CNN and Nancy Grace on behalf of Melinda Duckett's estate will not object to the release of the young mother's mental-health records.

.

The psychiatric records are relevant to the estate's wrongful-death claim against the cable giant and Grace, a network personality whose grilling interview of Duckett preceded the 21-year-old mom's suicide in 2006, lawyer Kara Skorupa told the Orlando Sentinel today.

.

The network asked a federal judge on New Year's Eve to force Lifestream Behavioral Center in Leesburg to surrender documents detailing its treatment of Duckett, mother of missing Leesburg toddler Trenton Duckett.

.

The mental-health center has refused to honor a defense subpeona.

.
Melinda Duckett shot herself at her grandparents' home in The Villages in September 2006 the day the network aired Grace's taped interview with her.

.
Skorupa also dismissed unsourced reports that CNN and Grace were seeking amateur, pornographic videos of Melinda Duckett in their defense of the lawsuit, which also accuses them of "intentional infliction of emotional distress."

.
Skorupa said she gave the videos to law enforcement officers investigating Trenton's disappearance. "I don't think they're relevant to what we claim CNN and Nancy Grace did to Mindy," Skorupa said.Lawyers representing CNN and Grace did not return a call seeking comment.

..

Leesburg police consider Melinda Duckett the prime suspect in the disappearance of her son, Aug. 27, 2006.