Tiger Woods’ attorney is challenging Florida prosecutors seeking a subpoena for the golfer’s prescription medications from a pharmacy, according to court records filed in Martin County (Fla.) Circuit Court on Tuesday.
Prosecutors requested the number of times Woods’ prescriptions were filled at Lewis Pharmacy in Palm Beach, Fla., from Jan. 1 to March 27, the day of Woods’ car crash in Jupiter Island. Attorney Douglas Duncan objected to the state’s request for a subpoena and is asking the court to conduct a hearing to determine if the prescription records are “relevant to a criminal investigation.”
In the filing on April 8, prosecutors also requested “date and time prescription was filled, type of prescription, number of pills in each prescription, the dosage amount, all special instructions on how to take the medication, date of next refill, all warnings, including but not limited to operating a motor vehicle while taking the prescription.”
“In the event the court grants the State’s request to issue a subpoena for Mr. Woods’ prescription records, the defense requests that the court enter a protective order governing the use and release of the records,” Duncan said in the filing.
Duncan also wrote that if the court decides to grant the state’s request for a subpoena, the judge shall enter a protective order “providing that the prescription records shall be confidentially reviewed by the state, its law enforcement officers, any state experts and the defense.” Duncan added that the records shall not be disclosed to any third party, which would prohibit their release in response to any public records request.
“If and when it becomes necessary for the state to publicly disclose said records or any portion of said records, that a hearing must be held to determine the necessity of said disclosure,” Duncan wrote.
The Athletic has reached out to Duncan and Lewis Pharmacy for comment and will update this story if they respond.
Authorities arrested Woods, 50, following the crash after he failed a sobriety test. While the breathalyzer test showed no traces of alcohol, Woods refused to take a urine test, and according to officers, admitted to taking “a few pills.” Two hydrocodone pills were later found in Woods’ pocket, according to an arrest affidavit released by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office and reviewed by The Athletic.
Woods pleaded not guilty to one DUI count and one count of refusing a urinalysis test. He told police that he had looked down at his phone to change the radio station before the Land Rover he was driving clipped a truck and rolled over.
“I know and understand the seriousness of the situation I find myself in today,” Woods said in a statement following his release from jail. “I am stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on my health.”