STAFF IN BUSH REHAB NEEDN'T TALK TO POLICE

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — In a case closely watched by drug counselors
nationwide, a judge has ruled that staff members at the drug rehab center
where Gov. Jeb Bush's daughter is receiving treatment don't have to answer
police questions in the investigation.

Investigators had sought a court order to compel four staff members to
provide information on whether 25-year-old Noelle Bush was found with a
piece of crack cocaine in her shoe.

But Circuit Judge Belvin Perry ruled Monday that a patient's privacy
outweighs the interest of a criminal investigation.

Perry ruled that if the staffers were forced to give testimony, then "all
patients who suffer relapses could be hauled out of treatment programs and
into criminal courts on the whim of a state prosecutor or police officers."

Drug counselors said a ruling against the center would have had a chilling
effect on people seeking treatment.