SAN JOSE
– He’d been her trusted family doctor for 10 years, but no
matter how much she respected the Gilroy Kaiser Permanente
physician, she knew the pelvic examination he gave her was
wrong.
SAN JOSE – He’d been her trusted family doctor for 10 years, but no matter how much she respected the Gilroy Kaiser Permanente physician, she knew the pelvic examination he gave her was wrong.
“I knew in my gut,” said Denise, a 40-year-old Morgan Hill woman who Thursday was the fourth alleged sexual assault victim of Dr. Raul Ixtlahuac to testify in his trial at the county Hall of Justice in San Jose, “but I didn’t want to believe it because he’d been so good to me for so many years.”
Denise went on to explain to the jury of five women and seven men how the Kaiser doctor’s circular rubbing of her clitoris during a routine September 2000 Pap smear caused her so much alarm that she sat up and pulled away from the doctor.
“I believed from feeling – not seeing,” said Denise, who was separated from the doctor by a large drape hanging over her abdomen during the exam. Only the first names of the alleged victims are being used in the trial to protect their anonymity.
Ixtlahuac (IXHT-la-wahk), 41, is facing up to 14 years in jail for four counts of alleged felony penetration with a foreign object and two counts of alleged felony sexual battery. Ixtlahuac, who had worked as a family practitioner at Kaiser for 12 years prior to the alleged incidents, has plead not guilty to the charges filed by six separate women.
Ixtlahuac’s defense attorney Doron Weinberg questioned Denise’s delayed reaction in reporting the alleged assaults – she did not contact police until she read about Ixtlahuac’s May 2001 arrest in the newspaper – and said that her testimony could’ve been influenced by a civil suit she sought against Kaiser and Ixtlahuac.
Denise and one of the five other alleged victims already have settled lawsuits out of court with Kaiser, and although the amounts of the settlements are unknown, Weinberg said each is between $200,000 and $300,000.
“I just wanted to forget about it and switch doctors,” Denise said in defense of her delayed reports.
A co-worker of Denise’s testified Thursday that she was told about the exam immediately afterward and that Denise was “obviously upset” about what had happened.
A 42-year-old Hollister woman named Georgette also testified against Ixtlahuac Thursday, saying he penetrated her with his penis during a November 2000 pelvic examination. Prior to Thursday, three other alleged victims of Ixtlahuac’s testified that the doctor penetrated them with his penis during pelvic examinations between August 2000 and May 2001; each of the six total alleged victims – ages 25 to 42 – have filed civil suits against Ixtlahuac, and many have done the same against Kaiser.
One victim reported finding a used condom in the examination room’s trash can following her examination. A medical assistant at the Kaiser facility at 7520 Arroyo Circle who was immediately summoned by the alleged victim also testified to seeing the condom.
County Superior Court Judge James Emerson has not allowed Weinberg to question any of the women’s mental states during their examinations; some of the women were on anti-depressants and other medication, Weinberg has said.
On Thursday, Deputy District Attorney Charles Gillingham also showed the jury a videotape of an alleged victim being interviewed by the Gilroy Police Department after she reported being penetrated by Ixtlahuac when she was six months pregnant.
The hour-long tape was consistent with the victim’s testimony to the jury earlier in the week, which was the point of the tape, Gillingham said.
“The defense is trying to disprove the victims’ credibility,” he said. “This shows consistency.”
The prosecution is expected to rest Tuesday with the testimony of the sixth and final alleged victim, a police officer and possibly Kaiser officials, Gillingham said.
Weinberg is scheduled to call several character witnesses to the stand and a nurse of Ixtlahuac’s who will testify to witnessing one of the exams in question and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Gillingham said.
Nurses were not present during the majority of the exams, the alleged victims have testified.
“There seem to be a lot of coincidences between the victims’ testimonies,” Gillingham said.
Ixtlahuac was arrested in May 2001 for the alleged assaults. He has since been free on a $250,000 bond and placed on unpaid administrative leave from Kaiser. His medical license also has been suspended pending the outcome of the trial.
On Thursday, Ixtlahuac arrived at the Hall of Justice with his wife, and he was dressed in a black suit and tie. Ixtlahuac’s wife sat behind him during the trial and they conversed and held hands during the recesses.
Several family members of the alleged victims also attended the trial Thursday.
Ixtlahuac lives in Salinas and received his medical degree from the University of Washington; his residency was completed at Stanford University. He is a native of Southern California.
