Psychiatric board sues Oregon paper to stop records request

PORTLAND – A state agency is fighting Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum’s order to release records to a small newspaper based in Vale.

The records pertain to Anthony Montwheeler, who left the state mental hospital in December after telling the Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board he had faked mental illness for 20 years to stay out of prison.

Police say a month later he killed his ex-wife after kidnapping her in Idaho and then collided head-on with a vehicle while fleeing officers, killing the driver.

The Malheur Enterprise last month broke the story of Montwheeler’s apparent ruse and seeks additional public records about the board’s decision to release him.

Rosenblum ordered the board to comply, but its lawyers responded with a lawsuit against the newspaper.

The suit filed in Salem last week says releasing the records would violate Montwheeler’s medical privacy.