Henry Ruggs III's Medical Records to Be Given to Prosecutors in Case over Fatal Crash

Tim Daniels @@TimDanielsBRFeatured Columnist IVDecember 9, 2021

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 03: A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer wheels former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III in to make his initial appearance on multiple felony DUI and reckless driving charges in Las Vegas Justice Court at the Regional Justice Center on November 3, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. On Tuesday morning, Ruggs was involved in a vehicle crash that left a woman dead and Ruggs and his passenger injured, according to police. After he was released from a hospital, Ruggs was booked at the Clark County Detention Center and was later released by the Raiders on Tuesday. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

A Las Vegas judge ruled Thursday prosecutors will be given access to medical records and blood test results from former NFL wide receiver Henry Ruggs III in relation to a fatal car crash on November 2 that killed Tina Tintor and her dog.

Ken Ritter of the Associated Press reported the ruling by Justice of the Peace Pro Tem Robert Walsh comes after attorneys for Ruggs and his girlfriend, Kiara Je'nai Kilgo-Washington, tried to prevent the use of medical information as part of the case.

Ruggs was charged with DUI causing death or substantial injury and felony reckless driving after prosecutors said he was driving 156 mph just before striking Tintor's vehicle, which caught fire. Police said Ruggs registered a blood alcohol level of 0.16, which is double the legal limit in Nevada.

"The blood test results will be released, in addition to the authentication of the medical records," Walsh said. "Nothing to do with conversations or treatment as to any patient-doctor relationship."

Ruggs' attorney, Richard Schonfeld, successfully lobbied for the next court date in the case, which is a preliminary hearing of the evidence, to be moved from next week until March 10 to provide more time for evidence collection and conversations with prosecutors, per Ritter.

Peter Christiansen, a lawyer for Kilgo-Washington, continued to argue his client shouldn't have to provide her medical records since she's being treated as a victim in the case—Ruggs' second felony DUI charge is connected to Kilgo-Washington suffering unspecified injuries as a passenger in his vehicle. She was hospitalized following the crash.

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Prosecutors argued that they require her medical records to establish that she suffered "substantial injuries" under the legal definition.

Thursday's ruling allows prosecutors to use the medical information, but doctors will not be eligible to speak during the trial about any conversations they had with Ruggs regarding the treatment of injuries he suffered in the crash.

The 22-year-old Alabama native was released on house arrest after posting $150,000 bail. He faces a minimum sentence of two years in prison and a maximum sentence of more than 50 years in prison if convicted of the felony counts against him.

Ruggs didn't appear in court for Thursday's hearing, per Ritter.

The receiver was a first-round pick by the Las Vegas Raiders in the 2020 NFL draft. He appeared in 20 games across two seasons with the franchise before getting released in wake of the crash.

Tintor, 23, was a Target employee who was working toward becoming a computer programmer.