Accused shooter won’t hand over mental health records :: WRAL.com

Families of the victims of a 2022 Raleigh mass shooting allege that lawyers
for the suspect are withholding critical information about his mental health
care ahead of trial.

Lawyers representing the victims’ families filed a motion Tuesday in Wake
Superior Court that accuses the defense team for Austin Thompson of applying a
“blanket Fifth Amendment” response to all questions lawyers for the victims
asked, including refusing to “identify [Thompson’s] current mental-health
providers,” as well as the medications Thompson took or how they would impair
him.

The motion claims that one of Thompson’s lawyers, James Welsh, stated that
Thompson would not produce any further discovery responses because “criminal
defense counsel would not allow it.”

Welsh didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment late Tuesday.

Thompson is accused of killing five people in 2022 in Raleigh’s Hedingham
neighborhood. Thompson, who was 15 at the time, faces five counts of murder,
two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with
intent to kill and one count of assault with a firearm on a law enforcement
official.

The
victims’ families filed a lawsuit against Thompson, his parents and the
homeowners’ association in October 2024, claiming Thompson had several
problems before the shooting, including arguments with other residents in the
community.

In October, WRAL
News reported that lawyers representing Thompson were expected to argue that a
prescription medication contributed to his alleged actions.

The motion filed Tuesday says that Thompson’s lawyers’ purported rationale
for not releasing the health documents wasn’t valid.

“[Thompson’s] refusal is not based on any individual privilege analysis,
constitutional concern or legal principle,” the motion stated. “It is a blanket
directive imposed by attorneys who are not counsel of record for this action
and who have elected to disregard a standing court order.”

According to the motion, the victims’ lawyers requested mental health
records from Thompson’s lawyers on June 5. Thompson’s lawyers returned answers
to the victims’ questions under seal.

Days after WRAL News learned of Thompson’s planned defense, the victims’
lawyers asked a judge to unseal the responses. The court ordered Thompson’s
defense team to disclose what was under seal, which the plaintiffs said
Thompson’s defense team received on Friday.

“[Thompson] continues to invoke his mental state and incapacity as both a
litigation sword and a discovery shield,” the plaintiffs’ motion says. “This is
precisely the ‘offensive use’ of privilege and capacity-based defenses that
North Carolina law prohibits. He cannot pursue a litigation advantage in both
cases while blocking all inquiry into the very subject matter on which his
defense depends.”

WRAL asked attorney Daniel Meier, who does not represent any of the parties
in this case, why civil lawyers might not have access to this information.

They certainly would, if they had the right to it.

“One of the concerns is – and why they’re pleading the fifth – he has a
constitutional right to plead the Fifth Amendment when it comes to the criminal
case,” Meier said. “You don’t have that in the civil. In civil, it
can be used against you.”

Meier said it appears lawyers for Thompson are trying to “delay the
civil process a bit until the criminal process has played out.”

Thompson’s criminal trial
is set for Feb. 2, 2026.

Meier said a judge could issue a protective order, which would allow the
civil attorneys to have access to the information, but they wouldn’t be able to
disclose it to anyone outside the legal team. The judge could also opt for
in-camera review, where the documents are turned over to the judge and he
determines what is and isn’t relevant to be turned over.

“I suspect this will get resolved via a protective order – given how
soon the trial is, probably a delay until that is done,” Meier said.