Doctor Cleared on Charge of Failing to Testify in Case

An Orange County Superior Court judge cleared a Newport Beach doctor of contempt charges Friday for failing to testify in a civil case, but not before castigating the physician and his lawyer for “unholy wrestling over the almighty dollar.”

Judge Richard J. Beacom said he would give Dr. Michael M. Drucker “the benefit of the doubt” and accept his claim that he was not aware of exactly when he was scheduled to testify in a personal injury case last month.

But Beacom, referring to a court file containing allegations that Drucker refused to appear unless he was paid $3,000 in advance, called the affair “extremely unsettling, extremely unwholesome.”

Drucker said that the lawyer, Michael J. Sundstedt, never made it clear to him when he was supposed to testify in a personal injury case. Sundstedt, in sworn statements, claimed he had assured Drucker that he would be paid and that he had been ordered to testify on April 27.

When Drucker did not show, Beacom ordered his arrest. Marshals waited until Drucker finished five scheduled surgeries before arresting him and bringing him to court.

Beacom called the case “ironic but tragic.” He noted there had been opportunities to take Drucker’s testimony earlier in the trial, but he had not been called to court.

Sundstedt became “frantic” when he “miscalculated” the length of the trial, according to Drucker’s lawyer, Paul S. Meyer. He said the mix-up resulted from “miscommunication” which involved no willful disobedience by Drucker.

The case involved the claim of Janice Bright, who was seeking more than $100,000 in damages after she tripped and fell in a grocery store. Jurors, who rejected Bright’s claim, were deliberating when Drucker was brought to court by marshals.

Bright’s lawyer, Aurora D. Harris, has asked for a new trial, claiming Beacom’s decision to order Drucker’s arrest while the jury watched prejudiced her case. Harris has claimed that Drucker’s testimony would have helped her case--an assessment supported by the judge.

“The case is going to have to be retried,” Beacom said. “It’s going to have to be done right. We’re not going to let go of it until it is done right.”