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PHOENIX (AP) — A woman accused of faking cancer in 2010 to get the state of Arizona to pay for her midterm abortion wants to bar prosecutors from using her medical records and doctor against her in the case.
A lawyer for Chalice Renee Zeitner argues that his client never gave permission for six doctors who treated her to disclose her medical history, The Arizona Capitol Times reported (http://bit.ly/1PZlrM0).
Attorney Adam Schwartz also is asking for Arizona's law on subpoenas to be declared unconstitutional, arguing that it gives prosecutors unchecked power to snoop into a person's life.
Zeitner is accused of telling her obstetrician that she had cancer and that her pregnancy put her life in further danger.
Prosecutors say Zeitner was enrolled in Arizona's health care program for the poor and had her costs associated with the abortion paid for by the state. The health care program will only cover abortions under limited circumstances, including whether the mother's life is endangered.
After the pregnancy was terminated, authorities said information was obtained that indicated Zeitner falsified medical documents purporting that she had cancer.
In another case, the 29-year-old Zeitner also was indicted on charges that she defrauded veterans charities. Prosecutors said she fraudulently obtained the personal information of the founder of Veterans Hope charities and his family in July 2012 than used it to open a credit card account under their names without their consent and charged about $25,000.
Zeitner has pleaded not guilty to the charges in both cases.
Schwartz wrote in a court filing that the grand jury subpoena used to get records in the case from the Mayo Clinic was faulty to begin with because the Arizona attorney general's office didn't follow the law and report the issuance of the subpoena to the grand jury foreman.
Attorney general spokeswoman Mia Garcia said the acquisition of the evidence was lawful.
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Information from: Arizona Capitol Times, http://www.arizonacapitoltimes.com
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