LAKEPORT, Calif. – In deliberations that took just over an hour a Lake County jury on Thursday acquitted a local doctor who had been accused of inappropriate conduct toward a patient.

 

At the end of what defense attorney Patrick Clancy said was an emotional five-and-a-half-day-long trial, the jury found Dr. Corey Warner not guilty of sexual battery by fraudulent representation and a second count of sexual battery under a different section of the penal code.

 

Prosecutor Ed Borg said jury selection took place Sept. 14 and the presentation of evidence began the next day. The jury went into deliberations on Thursday and returned a short time later with the not guilty verdict.

 

Warner, 41, was arrested June 10 following the conclusion of an investigation into allegations made by a female patient, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office's June report.

 

The patient alleged that on July 7, 2009, she visited Warner's practice at Hidden Valley Medical Services in Hidden Valley for an examination following a fall from a horse, according to Clancy.

 

Clancy said the patient alleged that Warner gave her a breast exam she didn't request. “He claimed, and his records showed, that no such exam was ever given,” Clancy said.

 

Borg said the woman also alleged that Warner thrust his pelvis against her while having her bend over to do a range of motion exercise.

 

The woman, whose name was not released by the defense or prosecution, reported the alleged incident on the same day that she said it occurred, Borg said.

 

Clancy alleged that while the sheriff's office said the investigation had been going on close to a year before Warner was arrested, there actually had been large delays in the investigation, which he said amounted to more than 11 months.

 

“It's the worst case in terms of an investigation that I've ever seen,” Clancy said.

 

Clancy suggested that it should have taken a week to wrap up the inquiry into the case's facts. “The delays were just totally unconscionable, totally inexcusable.”

 

While he didn't blame the initial lag on sheriff's Det. Mike Curran, Clancy said Curran didn't speak to witnesses in the case, including doctor's office staff, for many months afterward. That's an issue, he said, because, “Everyone knows that memories fade with time.”

 

Borg disputed Clancy's claims about the delays. There were timing issues – which were a concern for the jury – but he said they weren't as serious as Clancy portrayed them to be.

 

While it should have taken just a few days for the deputy who took the report to pass it on to Curran, Borg said for some reason it wasn't routed to Curran immediately. Curran got the case late in November and had completed most of the investigation within a month.

 

The defense theorized that the female patient was angry with Warner after she received a steroid shot for poison oak in January 2009, with the shot resulting in a 5 centimeter by 4 centimeter by 2 centimeter depression on her buttocks, Clancy said.

 

During the trial Clancy called a number of witnesses to testify to Warner's moral character and exceptional professional reputation.

 

Those witnesses included other local doctors and some of Warner's own patients, one of them a man whose young wife died unexpectedly last year and who broke down on the stand, saying he could never have made it without Warner's support.

 

“They love him. They absolutely love him,” Clancy said of Warner's patients.

 

Clancy said the backbone of the defense included the office procedures and standards of practice used to ensure client protection, which they went over in detail during the trial.

 

Borg said Clancy gave “an excellent closing argument” in which he highlighted what he considered the flaws in the case. Clancy in turn noted that Borg was both professional and ethical in his approach to the prosecution, and he felt Judge Andrew Blum was very fair in his handling of the case.

 

The jury came back with its verdict at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Borg said.

 

After speaking with jurors, “Essentially, it came down to they didn't feel we had proven the case,” Borg said. The jury also had problems with inconsistencies in the alleged victim's testimony and the testimony of office staff.

 

In his conversations with jurors, Clancy said they noted they didn't find the patient a reliable witness.

 

With the verdict decided, “What happened afterwards is what is utterly amazing,” said Clancy.

 

Warner and his wife were hugging and crying, and as the jurors walked out, each patted him on the back, according to Clancy.

 

The jurors waited outside to talk, and the female jurors later approached Warner and asked him to be their doctor, Clancy said.

 

He said the female jurors also got together with Warner's wife to let her know that they didn't just vote not guilty, but that they voted him innocent. Some of the jurors also reportedly confronted Curran after the trial, Clancy said.

 

While the Warners never doubted he would be acquitted, the prosecution has taken a toll on them. At the same time, Dr. Warner has continued his practice, Clancy said.

 

Dr. Warner is taking a few days off to be with his wife before getting back to his patients on Monday, according to Clancy.

 

However, while he loves his patients and is being asked to say, Clancy said Warner is having to give considerable thought to whether he will stay in Lake County.

 

Sheriff Rod Mitchell said Friday that once Curran got the case, he brought the shortfalls in its handling to the attention of both Mitchell and Capt. Rob Howe.

 

Mitchell said review steps have been put in place to avoid such delays in investigations going forward.

 

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