I have a defense attorney who wants the court to seal the return of a search warrant on a doctor's office because the return contains patient names...(HIPAA, etc.)

I want to show that court that he has no authority to seal it. Any thoughts or help??

Does this help:

"(d) An order issued under this section may not:

(1) prohibit the disclosure of information relating to the contents of a search warrant, the return of a search warrant, or the inventory of property taken pursuant to a search warrant; or"

CCP 18.011(d). I guess the argument could be made that 18.011(d) just says that 18.011 doesn't provide power to seal the return. If that view were correct, then one could argue that the trial court still has some kind of inherent power to seal the return. Houston Chronicle Pub. Co. v. Edwards, 956 S.W.2d 813, 816-17 (Tex.App. -- Beaumont 1997, orig. proc.).

I agree with David.

Furthermore, new Art. 18.011 only gives the PROSECUTOR the authority to request sealing of the affidavit (but not the return), so the defense has no right to request anything.

I also wonder what standing the doctor's attorney has to request the sealing of records for the alleged protection of third parties ...

I did some software development for an outfit that had HIPAA protected data so they made me take a short class about how important it was to keep the data private... but I remember that the data could be released under subpoena for civil cases.

Perhaps the doctor is concerned that she could be personally liable for release of that information?