Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009
Accused dentist wants the media locked out
Without citing any legal precedents, the lawyer for a dentist accused of inappropriate touching by more than a dozen female patients
has asked the judge to bar the media from his trial.
Sacramento Bee
Thursday, Jan. 01, 2009
By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com
A Woodland dentist accused of fondling more than a dozen female patients has asked a judge to bar the media from covering his trial.
Jury selection in the trial of Mark Anderson is scheduled to start next week in Yolo Superior Court. Opening statements are expected in mid-January. In the meantime, Anderson’s lawyer, Michael Rothschild filed a one-sentence motion asking the court to “exclude all media from all trial proceedings, including but not limited to jury selection, opening statement and witness testimony, in this matter.”
Rothschild’s motion gave no legal basis for the request. Constitutional law experts say the motion runs counter to the legal presumption that criminal proceedings in the United States should be open to the public.
Charity Kenyon, a prominent First Amendment lawyer who represents The Bee, plans to be in court Monday to contest the defense motion before Judge Stephen L. Mock. “It’s very unusual,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve seen one like this in 30 years.” In cases argued by Kenyon and others, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the rights of the public, including the media, to attend criminal proceedings in most circumstances.
Rothschild said he could not comment on the motion because lawyers are under a gag order issued earlier in the case.
Anderson, a once-prominent and well-liked dentist, had his license suspended after 27 women came forward in 2007 and accused him of touching them inappropriately in the dental chair. In October 2007, Yolo County grand jurors returned 20 felony counts and one misdemeanor count of sexual battery against Anderson based on the testimony of 14 of his former patients. Anderson, who has remained free on his own recognizance, has denied his guilt.
In an unsuccessful effort to permit the dentist to continue seeing patients, Anderson’s civil attorney argued that massages of the chest muscles were an accepted treatment for temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMJ, a painful jaw condition.
Anderson also is being sued by a number of his accusers.
On at least three occasions, public and media access to hearings in Anderson’s criminal case has been thwarted by the Yolo court system. At Anderson’s first scheduled arraignment date, Rothschild arrived at the courthouse early, before it had opened for the day, and privately arranged with Commissioner Janene Beronio to delay the proceeding. As reporters waited on the courthouse steps for the doors to open at 8:30 a.m., Rothschild walked out and announced that what was supposed to be a public proceeding was over.
Anderson’s subsequent arraignment, following the grand jury’s indictment, did not appear on the court’s calendar, and there was no other form of public notice – a deviation from normal court procedure.
Anderson’s family and up to 200 supporters knew to attend the unscheduled arraignment. But relatives of Anderson’s alleged victims missed it, saying they had no way of knowing about it.
Most members of the media also had no way of knowing when the formal reading of charges would take place. The Bee was alerted by an anonymous source.
At yet another hearing, reporters arrived for an afternoon session only to find it had been held hours earlier – again, without public notice.
Commissioner Beronio also presided the day the public, including reporters, was locked out when a murder suspect was arraigned. That incident caught the attention of top officials of the California courts. Yolo County court officials then pledged to run a more open court system.
Copyright Sacramento Bee