Acquaintance Witnesses Case In Arizona

In Matter of Alleged Mentally Disordered Person, Coconino County No. MH 1425, 181 Ariz. 290, 293, 889 P.2d 1088, 1091 (1995), the two acquaintance witnesses were professional mental health evaluators who attempted to examine the patient. 181 Ariz. at 293, 889 P.2d at 1091. The two witnesses "met briefly" with the patient, but the patient "refused to answer their questions." Id. 181 Ariz. at 291, 889 P.2d at 1089. The witnesses submitted written reports, which were clearly "professional evaluations of petitioner's mental health." Id. However, the two witnesses "could offer no more perspective on the question of the patient's mental health than could the examining physicians who . . . were not persons acquainted with the patient." Id. 181 Ariz at 293, 889 P.2d at 1091. The two witnesses were "retained to evaluate the mental health" of the patient. Id. 181 Ariz. at 291, 889 P.2d at 1089. In that setting, MH 1425 held that "acquaintance witnesses may not include those who have participated in the psychological evaluation of the patient for commitment purposes." Id. 181 Ariz. at 293, 889 P.2d at 1091.