LITTLE ROCK, AR -
(WMC-TV) - Should a lawsuit about medical records privacy be thrown out because the victim is deceased?
Arkansas' highest court is considering that issue in a lawsuit from the mother of a murdered news anchor, who has ties to WMC-TV.
Anne Pressly had made it. She was a television anchor and reporter in Little Rock, Arkansas. She graduated from Rhodes College and got her start in television as an Action News 5 intern.
All those high hopes came crashing down after a brutal attack in her home in 2008. She later died as a result of her injuries.
Curtis Vance was convicted of capital murder in the case.
Anne's mother, Patricia, sued the hospital and three staff members who pleaded guilty to illegally looking into her daughter's medical records.
But a lower court threw out the lawsuit last year. It said the law does not allow privacy claims to proceed after the death of the individual affected.
Should a lawsuit proceed if the victim is no longer living?
That is what the Arkansas Supreme Court will decide after they hear from lawyers representing Anne Pressly's mother. The court will determine if her lawsuit can proceed.
The court is hearing those arguments today.
They are expected to make a decision sometime in the next several weeks.
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