Nov 29, 2007 11:00 pm US/Eastern
Police: Mental Health Laws Slowed Suspect's Arrest
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
A murder in North Philadelphia has sparked tough questions about the response of a local hospital -- and mental health laws.
Sources said police are concerned about health privacy laws that they said delayed them from arresting a man accused of murder, who was being treated at Episcopal Hospital.
Enoch Miller was stabbed 21 times and died on his front door step in the Logan section of Philadelphia. The suspect was his owner brother, Avvim Miller.
Police said the two bothers were arguing over clothes.
Family members witnessed the murder and told police who the suspect was -- police got a tip that Miller was at Episcopal Hospital.
When police came to the hospital to ask for him, sources said the hospital cited mental heath privacy laws, and asked for a search warrant.
Sources said the hospital refused to tell police whether or not their suspect was inside.
Police called in a Swat Team and surrounded the hospital while they obtained a search warrant.
But sources said police were concerned about the potential threat Miller posed to hospital staff and other patients.
Miller's family told police he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia a few years ago.
After fours hours, hospital employees walked him out.
Episcopal Hospital Attorney Beth Koob told CBS 3: "We are bound by law to follow the state law as well as the federal law and that state law provides heightened confidentiality to patients."
The Police Department and the FOP had no official comment on this incident.
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