Pubdate: Wed, 19 Jun 2002
Source: Courier, The (LA)
Copyright: 2002 Houma Today
Contact:  http://www.houmatoday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1477
Author: John DeSANTIS

DOCTOR SUES TERREBONNE PROSECUTOR OVER DRUG INVESTIGATION

A New Orleans-area physician wants local authorities who suspect him of 
illegal drug trafficking to put up or shut up and has filed a $30 million 
lawsuit in federal court to get his point across.

But Terrebonne Parish prosecutors are branding the suit a ruse intended to 
derail a complex and lengthy investigation into the alleged appearance of 
drugs such as the time-release painkiller oxycontin ending up on local streets.

Terrebonne officials say their efforts will continue when a special grand 
jury reconvenes next month.

The civil rights suit was filed Friday at U.S. District Court in New 
Orleans by Dr. Walter O. Sanders Jr. of St. Tammany Parish. It alleges that 
a Terrebonne Parish prosecutor and drug investigators are turning his 
pain-management and psychiatric practice into a ruin.

The 14-page pleading, prepared by attorney Gerald Aurillo, says that for 
more than a year, prosecutors have used the grand jury process for a 
fishing expedition. It claims that investigators have threatened, harassed 
and manhandled Sanders' patients, seized their medical records from 
pharmacies and badgered them into making statements implicating him in a 
suspected fake-prescription-writing scheme.

No charges have been filed against Sanders in connection with the lengthy 
probe, though the doctor does face unrelated criminal charges related to 
illegal drug possession pending in Orleans Parish.

Named as defendants in the suit are Terrebonne First Assistant District 
Attorney Mark Rhodes, Plaquemines Parish sheriff's deputy Warren J. 
Gilbert, Terrebonne deputy Melody Cantrell Gilbert and two other drug 
investigators identified as Richard M. Dobus Jr. and Michael Hyatt. Also 
named is the Louisiana Board of Medical Examiners; its director of 
investigations, Dr. John B. Bobear; and a board investigator, Charles 
Fleetwood.

The suit says the medical board is investigating a complaint against 
Sanders brought by Terrebonne authorities.

Terrebonne Parish District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr. is not named as a 
defendant but is aware of the investigation as well as the unique lawsuit 
it has spawned naming his second-in-command.

"We are dealing with what we feel is a serious case where thousands of 
oxycontin pills and other serious narcotics are getting to the streets of 
our parish," Waitz said. "We're going to do everything in our power to 
ensure that we stop this."

Rhodes said he is convinced the suit lacks merit, noting special immunity 
prosecutors have against legal actions brought against them when their work 
is done in good faith.

The investigation, he and others close to the case said, has been delayed 
by some administrative issues. Putting such an investigation together for 
presentation in secret to the grand jury, prosecutors said, can be an 
arduous task.

"It is our belief that this is merely a ploy by Dr. Sanders to attempt to 
have the District Attorney's Office recused in order to avoid scrutiny by 
the grand jury," said Rhodes, a self-proclaimed pit bull of a prosecutor 
with a penchant for bringing messianic zeal to the courtroom. "I'm very 
comfortable with this case, and I am not going to be deterred."

Documents relating to charges against Sanders in Orleans Parish state that 
on Feb. 19, police seized drug paraphernalia, $147,982.00 in cash, and 
suspected cocaine, marijuana and hashish.

Sanders, his lawyer maintains, was helping a friend move when his car was 
stopped, and the items were not his. Lab results are not yet available.

Aurillo said he is not interested in thwarting legitimate prosecution of 
his client. But if prosecutors believe they have a case, Aurillo said, they 
should follow the rules and not continually hound Sanders or his patients.

Oxycontin is described by doctors as a time-release version of a powerful 
painkiller. People who abuse the drug for its narcotic effect crush the 
capsules and ingest the painkiller directly, sometimes by snorting.

Terrebonne Sheriff Jerry Larpenter, who is not named in the suit but who is 
the boss of one of the defendants, Cantrell Gilbert, said he is aware of 
the investigation. Cantrell Gilbert, he said, is an experienced and 
conscientious deputy.

"There is a criminal investigation going on, and he (Sanders) may be a 
target," Larpenter said. "There's nothing illegal about a grand jury 
investigation, but today attorneys sue anybody.

"If we have information about whether there are narcotics being 
distributed, we have an obligation to look into it. The evidence will be 
presented. If a grand jury comes up with a no-true bill, good for him. If 
there's an indictment, it still does not mean he is guilty. He still has 
due process."
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