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Prosecutors and defense attorneys on Thursday agreed some records of communications between murder defendants Nathan and Stephanie Sloop and their therapist are protected by patient-physician privilege.
But a dispute remains about whether prosecutors are barred from using all of the records in court against the Sloops.
Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings argued that some conversations between the Sloops and their therapist, Ogden psychologist Rob Pramann, were not carried out for the sake of treatment. Therefore, some of the conversations that took place should not be sealed for privacy and instead should be allowed for use by prosecutors as evidence, he said.
Defense attorneys maintain that the records are confidential and should not be admitted as evidence.
Second District Judge Glen Dawson asked attorneys to submit briefs on the issue by the end of May with oral arguments scheduled for June 3.The judge also scheduled a July 29 hearing to discuss whether materials seized from Nathan Sloop's cell at the Davis County Jail might be admissible as evidence.
Nathan Sloop, 32, and Stephanie Sloop, 28, are both charged with aggravated murder in the slaying of 4-year-old Ethan Stacy in May 2010. Stephanie Sloop was Ethan's mother and Nathan Sloop was his new stepfather.
Nathan Sloop spoke to Pramann about the boy's behavior and physical state, according to court documents, and prosecutors are seeking records of those conversations.
If the judge decides Nathan Sloop's communications regarding Ethan are privileged, prosecutors want the judge to then consider if the sessions should have triggered a child-abuse report by the therapist, and whether that constitutes an exception to the privilege.
Charging documents allege the couple engaged in multiple acts of "severe abuse" between April 29 and May 8, which led to Ethan's death, including "beatings, burning, drugging, isolating, malnourishing, leaving the child alone and unattended while suffering, and refusing to seek vital life-sustaining medical attention."
According to the police probable-cause statements, Stephanie Sloop said she knew Ethan needed medical attention after an initialMay 5 disciplinary beating by Nathan Sloop, but that she was afraid Sloop would harm her, too, if she acted.
She told police that Ethan became "extremely ill," would not eat and was given Benadryl to keep him quiet. She also told police that on May 7, Nathan Sloop told her Ethan had burned himself in the bathtub on his feet, legs and buttocks by turning up the hot water when Nathan Sloop left the bathroom.
The couple — who said they left the injured boy in a locked bedroom while they got married May 6 — reported Ethan missing to police on Mother's Day, May 10, after discovering the boy was dead.
But after a 12-hour search, police say the couple confessed to burying the boy near Powder Mountain Ski Resort in Weber County.
Nathan Sloop, who led officers to the body on May 11, told police he used a hammer to disfigure the boy's face and teeth in an effort to hinder identification.
Dog food was sprinkled on the boy's unmarked grave.