Pubdate: Tue, 05 Mar 2002 Source: Pensacola News Journal (FL) Copyright: 2002 The Pensacola News Journal Contact: http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1675 Author: Monica Scandlen Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?186 PACE DOCTOR WANTS NEW TRIAL Dr. James Graves, Convicted Of Manslaughter For Illegally Prescribing Painkillers, Is Asking For A New Trial. In a seven-page motion, defense attorney Ed Ellis said Circuit Judge Kenneth Bell should grant the trial because last month's verdict came from circumstantial evidence and the jury "evidently did not understand the evidence" or jury instructions. "The verdict of the jury was based upon bias, passion, misinformation, misdirection and prejudices," Ellis wrote. Assistant State Attorney Russ Edgar said the motion was expected as a standard response to a conviction. No date has been set for a hearing on the motion. Graves, 55, is scheduled to be sentenced March 22 in Milton. The Pace doctor was the first in the nation to be convicted on charges that his prescriptions, including OxyContin, led to some patients' overdose deaths. Several other doctors, including one in Florida, face trials on similar charges. After 4 hours of deliberations, the jury agreed with the prosecution that Graves overprescribed virtually the same mixture of medications - dubbed the "Graves' cocktail" - to patients who didn't need them. The defense argued many of the patients were addicts who lied to get their fix. The doctor testified for three days and insisted he did nothing wrong. Among the points Ellis raised in the motion: Graves did not get a fair trial because the manslaughter charges should have been tried separately from the racketeering and unlawful delivery charges. Graves was not guilty of manslaughter by culpable negligence - meaning he should have known the prescriptions would lead to death or injuries - because some of the prescriptions were for legitimate medical purposes. Bell should have allowed the defense to ask law enforcement and other state officials why they did not suspend the doctor's medical license early in the investigation. "As a result of an emergency suspension ... not being pursued ... the four manslaughter charges ... occurred," Ellis said. A woman who later became the jury forewoman should have been dismissed earlier in the trial. After Graves barged into another doctor's office looking for records, the juror reported someone called her and asked her about the developments. The juror told Bell she immediately hung up the telephone and did not discuss the case. Graves remains in the Santa Rosa County Jail. Reached after almost six weeks of testimony, the verdict is part of one of the longest and most expensive trials in Santa Rosa County. The county does not have a final cost estimate, but before the trial estimates reached $197,000. Graves case Dr. James Graves, 55, was convicted Feb. 19 of four counts of manslaughter, five counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and one count of racketeering. He faces up to 165 years in prison when he is sentenced by Circuit Judge Kenneth Bell on March 22. The trial was held at the Santa Rosa County Courthouse in Milton. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart