6 mars, 2007 14:39
Jury finds doctor guilty of groping addicted patient
Salt Lake Tribune - Salt Lake City,UT,USA
The ex-patient, who has implants, claimed that Bedell spoke of his wife's breast implants - an indication she was telling the truth because Bedell's wife ...
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5364627
Jury finds doctor guilty of groping addicted patient Osteopath acquitted of felonies, but faces more felony charges that stem from other cases By Kristen Moulton
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated:03/06/2007 12:23:50 AM MST LOGAN - A jury on Monday acquitted Raymond Bedell, a pain doctor, of felony charges but found him guilty of a single misdemeanor charge of groping a drug-addicted patient who went to him for narcotics.
The 1st District Court jury of seven men and one woman deliberated for nearly six hours before reducing the charges against the doctor.
Instead of facing up to 30 years in prison, Bedell faces up to a year in jail on the conviction of sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor. Judge Jon Memmott will sentence him later.
But his backers - patients with chronic pain, fellow church members and friends - were disappointed and some were in tears. Many had attended the five-day trial.
"This guy has done so much for so many people," said Nina Roesberry of North Logan, a former patient.
"This man keeps people going," said Bonnie McLean of Franklin, Idaho, who has had seven leg surgeries and suffers from fibromyalgia. Bedell, she said, was the first doctor to figure out how to ease her pain.
The osteopathic physician, in practice in the Cache Valley for a decade, is scheduled to stand trial March 20 on three second-degree felony counts of forcible sexual abuse as well as a Class-A misdemeanor count of sexual battery in connection with allegations he groped four other female patients.
It was not clear how that case will be affected by Monday's decision.
Cache County Attorney George Daines on Monday described all the alleged victims as women who are "significantly dependent on prescription drugs."
In his closing arguments, Daines said the behavior Bedell was accused of - groping a patient's breasts and pressing himself against her thigh - was not the most serious sexual transgression the attorney has encountered.
But, he said, it is repugnant because of the special trust society places in doctors and the vulnerability of a woman addicted to prescription painkillers.
"At some level, she was willing to accept these depredations to feed her drug habit," Daines said.
Earlier in the trial, Daines said Bedell's ex-patient formed a habit during a series of surgeries related to ballet injuries.
The woman, a Brigham City resident, was previously convicted of prescription fraud in Cache and Davis counties, had violated parole and was in jail awaiting prosecution on new drug charges when she contacted a Logan police detective last fall.
She later entered the drug court program and has been drug-free for six months.
Daines said certain details of the story the woman told jibed with the stories of other women who have complained that Bedell fondled them.
For instance, each of the complaining women had either large breasts or surgical implants, and each claimed Bedell fondled their breasts on the first appointment, Daines said.
The ex-patient, who has implants, claimed that Bedell spoke of his wife's breast implants - an indication she was telling the truth because Bedell's wife does have implants, Daines said.
"She has no motive to lie," Daines said of the ex-patient.
But Defense Attorney Stephen Sweigart said Bedell's ex-patient had every reason to lie. "She had nothing to lose."
She was facing charges that could land her in prison and was eager to help Detective Bret Randall, who clearly wanted to nail Bedell, he said.
The attorney picked apart a transcript of the police interview to argue that Randall planted notions in the woman's mind.
She also may have wanted to curry favor with prosecutors to avoid prosecution for crimes she has never been charged with, Sweigart said.
Sweigart also pointed to a letter the woman wrote to Bedell after he discharged her in January 2004.
In the letter, the woman asked Bedell to take her back.
She wrote,"I will do anything you say, no questions asked. You're a wonderful doctor,"
Sweigart said, reading the letter.
"Is that the letter of a sexual assault victim writing to the perpetrator?" he asked.
The Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing has been monitoring the case.
If the doctor is forced to shutter his pain clinic, many patients will suffer, said Roesberry, a retired FBI agent who was Bedell's patient after knee surgery.
"They are going to be in a world of hurt because they have nowhere else to turn," she said.
