The Big Top might be putting out a casting call for a new lion tamer. On December 18th, Judge David Wesley listened to a pre-trial motion from Deputy Attorney General E.A. Jones regarding the California Medical Board’s monitoring of Drs. Kapoor and Eroshevich, and how it is in the public’s best interest to suspend both licenses. Judge Wesley denied the motion and further admonished Jones for delivering poor oral and written arguments (complete with typographical errors). Ouch. One would have thought Jones utilized the extra week to prepare a proofed, effective presentation. Regardless, as stated in my last post, a criminal judge is not an extension of a state licensing board.
Lady Justice hopes this minor obstacle involving the Deputy AG (not the prosecutor) neither blinds nor biases Judge Wesley from having the trio’s (Stern, Eroshevich and Kapoor) nefarious activities reviewed in full, particularly in light of the serious criminal charges against each of them. In fact, it seems the interests of each defendant also conflict with one another, thus bifurcating the cases is the just thing to do. The opening gavel sounds February 5th, and we will be there to bring you the latest.
There appears to be misleading information floating through cyberspace with regard to Superior Judge David Wesley’s December 11th decision reported in ANS Circus: Driving in Tent Poles Once Again. To begin, a judge’s duties are not tied to the California Medical Board. He is entrusted to rule on the criminal matter at hand. His dismissal to rule on the possibility of having Eroshevich and Kapoor’s licenses’ suspended suggests neither innocence nor guilt. If they are found guilty, then the medical board can revoke their licenses. Information regarding the California Medical Board’s authority is located at http://www.medbd.ca.gov/laws/Index.html.
We will divulge information regarding the December 18th pre-trial motions once details become available.
Not surprisingly, the triumvirate of HKS, Eroshevich and Kapoor entered not guilty pleas today to 23 drug-related felony counts of drug conspiracy. Eroshevich and Kapoor won a small victory when Superior Judge David Wesley denied an attempt to revoke their medical licenses since Deputy Attorney General E.A. Jones III and a California state medical board delayed seeking action for over a year. Even though AG Jones felt it was imminently dangerous to the public for the doctors to continue practicing, he and the board refused to act sooner to determine whether testimony from the preliminary hearing warrants the case going to trial. Before the closing gavel sounded, Judge Wesley set a December 18th pretrial motion hearing and a tentative trial date of February 5, 2010.
Eroshevich’s attorney stated there was “simply no basis to prevent her from practicing medicine at this point. [This case] is related to a single patient, and on its face, it’s laughable [Eroshevich] would [be deemed] an imminent threat to the public.” Lady Justice fails to find the humor in any of this.
Kapoor’s attorney, Ellyn Garafalo, felt publicity may be a factor in the medical board’s “troubling” decision. Nonetheless, she was pleased with Judge Wesley’s decision to deny the license suspension motion. We will keep you abreast of all the action!
