VAN NUYS : Woman Testifies in Trial of Dentist

A 38-year-old West Hills woman testified Wednesday that after seeking treatment for severe tooth pain, a Reseda dentist held her down and put his hand under her clothing.

Dr. Kamal Matian is charged with five felony counts of sexually assaulting two women, the patient who testified Wednesday and a 19-year-old former employee who said last week that she was attacked.

Matian, 46, is charged with rape by a foreign object--in this case a finger--two counts of sexual battery and two counts of false imprisonment. If he is convicted on all charges, he would face more than 17 years in state prison.

However, answering questions from Matian’s attorney, the female patient also admitted that she was addicted to a prescription painkiller through most of 1992.

She also said that at the time of the alleged attack in February, 1992, she had been randomly calling dentists listed in the phone book, posing as a longtime patient and demanding prescriptions for Vicodin, the drug to which she was addicted.

The woman also told the jury that in addition to having previously pleaded guilty to two robbery charges, she received immunity in exchange for Wednesday’s testimony. The immunity was in response to her concerns about a pending misdemeanor theft case that may not be prosecuted because of a quirk in immunity laws.

Defense attorney James E. Blatt elicited the testimony, which was clearly embarrassing to the woman, in an attempt to discredit her in the eyes of the 12 jurors.

In opening statements last week in Van Nuys Superior Court, Blatt called the woman “a perjurer and a liar” because she denied during an earlier court hearing that she had ever been convicted of a felony.