Medical Examining Board denies prehearing subpoenas, continues charges to Jan. 29

A panel of the Medical Examining Board denied a respondent's request for subpoenas to compel prehearing depositions and agreed to continue consideration of motions and the substantive revocation hearing until Jan. 29.

At a remote motions hearing, Assistant Attorney General Tanya D'Maddie, advising the panel, said the meeting was convened to address pending motions including the respondent's October motions for a more definite statement and subpoenas and the Department of Public Health's January 3, 2025, motion to amend the statement of charges. Attorney Pernice Spinella, counsel for the respondent, asked the panel to issue subpoenas to depose two witnesses the respondent contends are central to the Department's case.

Attorney Pernice Spinella argued the depositions were necessary for a fair defense and stressed the request was narrowly targeted. "We're not saying that the board is required to do this. We're saying that the board has the discretion to order it in an appropriate case," he said.

Attorney Joelle Newton, representing the Connecticut Department of Public Health, told the panel the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act (UAPA) does not authorize depositions prior to an administrative hearing. "Under the UAPA, there is no authority to compel witnesses to be present for subpoena to a deposition," Newton said, citing the board's authority to subpoena witnesses to appear at a hearing under the statute referenced in the record as 4-1-77(b).

Panel members agreed with the department's reading of the law and denied the motion for subpoenas. Michelle Jacklin, a public member of the Medical Examining Board, moved to deny the request; a colleague seconded. The panel voted unanimously to deny the subpoenas. The panel chair announced, "So that is denied. And we are continued until the 20 ninth in this matter to hear the motions and objections on the amendment of the statement charges."

Separately, Attorney Spinella said his office had filed a motion for a continuance by email after learning of the department's proposed amended statement of charges and requested 60 days to prepare a written response. The hearing officer and Department counsel said they had not received that continuance filing and asked that it be refiled so the record is clear. The panel agreed to treat the oral request as a motion for continuance, asked that Spinella refile the email for the record, and moved consideration of the motion-to-amend and related motions to the panel's Jan. 29 motions date. The panel voted unanimously to continue the matters to that date.

The panel and parties also discussed scheduling: argument on the motion to amend and the party filings will be considered on Jan. 29 remotely, and a new date for the merits hearing will be set after the panel rules on the sufficiency of the statement of charges. Department staff and counsel confirmed they will notify witnesses of the continuance.

The hearing record indicates the Department of Public Health filed the motion to amend the statement of charges on Jan. 3, 2025; the respondent's motions for subpoenas and for a more definite statement were filed in October 2024 (dated Oct. 18 and Oct. 16, 2024, respectively). Attorney Spinella asked for a 60-day postponement in his continuance request and was asked to refile by email to ensure receipt by the hearing office.