Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Examiner - February 22, 2006
Marisa Lagos, Staff Writer
Stephen Brian Turner, 51, "realizes he is now public enemy No. 1," but did not know at the time of his alleged crimes that he was doing anything wrong, defense attorney Herman Franck said.
Turner, a Hayward resident, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the more than 100 charges, including faking HIV and syphilis tests. Franck said the former doctor would attempt to strike a deal with the District Attorney's Office.
At the arraignment Wednesday, Franck requested that a court-appointed doctor give Turner a psychiatric evaluation, saying he was "having an episode," and may need to be medicated.
The physician, who lost his California medical license in 1998, is accused of bilking hundreds of immigrants out of more than $240,000 for fake medical exams, tests and vaccines. The crimes, which include administering saline solution in the place of vaccines, allegedly occurred from 1999 to 2005 at two clinics set up in the Mission District, as well as at Catholic Charities locations in Fresno and Santa Rosa and at private homes, according to prosecutors.
Franck insisted that Turner believed he was still authorized to give the immigration vaccines despite not having a California medical license.
"He would like to say he's very sorry. He's not in denial, he's not blaming anyone else, he doesn't have any excuses," Franck said. "At this point he wants to cooperate and make amends, and do the right thing as far as fessing up."
Catholic Charities and many of Turner's patients found the doctor on a list of valid immigration doctors on the Department of Homeland Security Web site. DHS' local Citizenship and Immigration Services agency office said they removed Turner from the list in 2002, but an Examiner investigation found that he was on as recently as Dec. 13, 2005.
"What happened is that there was a good-faith belief that he could do what he was doing without a license because he was under the impression the federal government does not require a [medical] license," Franck said.
Turner gave his patients fake vaccines, Franck said, because he could not obtain real ones.
Turner, a divorce, was convicted of sexual misdemeanors twice in the past for masturbating in public. Both convictions were expunged from his record after Turner completed probation, Franck said.
On Wednesday, a judge refused to reduce Turner's bail, set at $1.45 million, meaning the former physician will stay behind bars.
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