Arguments under way in abuse trial of LA doctor

LOS ANGELES – Similarities in the accounts of sexual abuse from 11 patients show they are telling the truth about being assaulted by the physician son of Bermuda's former leader, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.

Prosecutors claim the attacks took place over five years at three Los Angeles clinics owned by Kevin Antario Brown. The women were given inappropriate breast or pelvic exams for unrelated complaints like lightheadedness, flulike symptoms and an ankle injury, Deputy District Attorney Ann-Marie Wise said in closing arguments.

"You heard over the course of this trial 11 different women, and they all told you the same thing," Wise said.

But the alleged victims who came forward, whom he said all lacked credibility, represented a small fraction of a percent of Brown's total appointments, his lawyer, Edi Faal.

"That is a statistically insignificant amount," Faal said during his closing salvo.

Brown, 40, is charged with sexually assaulting the patients, including an undercover vice officer. He has pleaded not guilty to 30 felony counts, ranging from sexual exploitation to forcible rape. He faces life in prison if convicted of all counts.

Faal said none of the women involved ever alerted Brown's staff about what was allegedly occurring and called the vice officer a liar.

He stressed that she was clandestinely recording her appointment with Brown, but is not heard on the tape protesting about what supposedly was occurring during the examination.

"The audio tape machine is proving her wrong over and over again," he said.

Brown was arrested in 2008. During the trial, Wise said Brown had been acquitted in 2004 and 2006 of similar charges.

Brown is the son of Ewart Brown, who stepped down as Bermuda's premier last year. The family practitioner has been free on $4 million bail.

Wise cited the testimony of one victim who came in to be evaluated for weight loss treatment and said she had her breasts fondled after being told she needed a mammogram. Another victim came in to discuss a lump on her breast only to have Brown nuzzle his face on her chest and suckle on a nipple as part of the supposed examination, Wise said.

"This man, he thinks his office, his examination room, is his personal playground and everybody who comes in is his prey," Wise said.

But Faal poked holes in the claim of a third patient who said she was molested after she came to him with concerns that she suffered from anemia because of lightheadedness. She went back to an appointment with Brown after the alleged molestation had taken place and agreed to distribute flyers advertising his business at her college.

"No reasonable person would act in that manner" after being molested, Faal said.