ARTICLES

Not Many Acts as Egregious as This One

ABORTIONIST STEIR ARRESTED FOR MURDER

By Anne Knight

Following a 10-month investigation conducted by the medical board of California, Dr. Bruce S. Steir, 66, was arrested October 22 at his San Francisco home and charged with the murder of Sharon Hamptlon, 27, of Barstow. Steir performed an abortion on Hamptlon December 13, 1996 at A Lady's Choice, a Moreno Valley (Riverside County) abortion facility owned and operated by Dr. Joseph Durante. Hamptlon was 20 weeks pregnant. She died within hours from injuries suffered during the abortion [see News Notes, February and April 1997].

According to the October 23 Riverside Press-Enterprise, Steir claimed he was unaware that he had perforated Hamptlon's uterus. But in a declaration filed by prosecutors in Riverside superior court, Nancy Myles -- who assisted Steir in Hamptlon's abortion -- stated that at one point during the abortion, Steir looked surprised and said, "I think I pulled bowel." When Myles asked if she should call 911, she said Steir told her either, "Wait a minute," or "I'm just going to put it back." Prosecutors also said that Steir left the clinic to return to San Francisco at least 40 minutes before Hamptlon was even discharged. Hamptlon bled to death on the way home.

Two surgeons, Dr. Michael Morris and Dr. Eugene Albright, reviewed medical records from the investigation. The Press-Enterprise reported that Morris will testify that Steir's actions during the abortion appeared to indicate he was "attempting to hide the fact that a perforation occurred." Albright will testify that "by continuing to operate, whether to finish the abortion or to 'put it back,' [Steir] shows a conscious and willful disregard of a life-threatening condition."

At the time of Hamptlon's death, there were already complaints of negligence against Steir by former patients. In three cases women required surgery to repair injuries. Surgeons had to remove a fetal skull found protruding through a tear in the uterus of one former Steir patient. In a November 12 phone conversation, Jose Guerrero of the state attorney general's office, which handles medical board legal actions, told News Notes his office filed an accusation against Steir in November 1995 for gross negligence, incompetence, and repeated negligent acts with several of his patients. Steir had given up his Florida medical license nine years earlier after a complaint was filed against him there.

The Press-Enterprise and Associated Press both reported that Steir was on probation at the time of Hamptlon's death. Under the terms of his probation, Steir was required to notify the state when he took a job; his work had to be monitored by a state-approved physician; and he was required to report his activities to the state every three months.

According to a statement by Sheila Watson, a senior investigator with the medical board, on December 18, 1996, Steir admitted to her he had not reported to the board that he was practicing at the clinic. He also said he had practiced there without a monitor several times through December 13, 1996.

In press reports, medical board investigator John Martinez said that Steir's case is the first time an investigation by the board has resulted in murder charges being filed against a doctor. "There's not that many [doctors] that commit acts as egregious as this one," Martinez said. "We felt it warranted going to the district attorney's office [to seek charges]."

Informed sources say two factors were crucial in the murder charge. One was that Steir's assistant, Nancy Myles, went of her own volition to the Riverside district attorney and reported Steir's statements and actions during Hamptlon's abortion. Additionally, Hamptlon's autopsy concluded that she had died as a result of gross negligence, and that the death should be classified as a "homicide."

The charges filed against Steir raise questions about the extent to which his employer, Joseph Durante, was responsible for Sharon Hamptlon's death. In her statement, medical board investigator Watson said Durante admitted to her he knew that Steir was on probation when he hired him. He answered "no" when Watson asked him if he had checked on Steir's status with the medical board or looked at the terms of his probation decision.

A Riverside-area pro-life source believes Durante's role in Hamptlon's death merits further investigation by the state for two reasons: (1) He knowingly hired a substandard doctor [Steir]; and, (2) in response to a February 17 letter sent by the Hamptlons' attorney requesting the fetal remains so they could be buried with Sharon Hamptlon, Durante responded that he had already thrown them away. According to the source, this constitutes a misdemeanor called "improper disposal of human waste."

A Riverside County pro-life sidewalk counselor filed an affidavit with the medical board in which he related a conversation he had with Durante outside an abortion facility in Palm Desert owned by the doctor. Durante said he was "doing the country a service, taking care of niggers and Mexicans before they can wind up on welfare and in gangs. I don't want to support them, and I don't know why the hell you would."

Hamptlon was African-American. Her family, represented by attorney Jack Schuler, has filed a wrongful death suit against Steir, Durante, and several clinic employees. The medical board's Cohen was unable to comment on whether any investigation of Durante is being contemplated or conducted by the medical board.

At the time Hamptlon died Durante was also on probation. Previously his license had been revoked by the medical board and then stayed on the condition of probation. This action resulted from a late-term abortion he attempted to perform in 1992 at San Diego's Womancare abortion clinic, which resulted in the delivery of a live baby girl hours later at the San Diego Kaiser Permanente hospital. "Baby Girl W." has suffered from physical and cognitive problems caused by the botched abortion.

Cohen said Durante had been put on probation for five years, starting on September 3, 1996. Any physician on probation may continue to practice medicine. However, an informed source familiar with Durante's and Steir's legal situations said that, unlike Steir, the terms of Durante's probation did not require him to have a physician monitor.

Pro-life sources describe the following scenario as the typical course of events when complaints against doctors are made to the medical board. The board can take years to act. If it does decide to take action, first the board brings an accusation against the doctor. This is followed by an administrative law procedure, which allows for many delays and can take years to process, particularly in extremely severe cases. In such cases it then becomes difficult to follow through without indicting the system, since so much time has elapsed before action is taken. In severe cases, the board will often "cut a deal" wherein the physician pleads "no contest," resulting in revocation of his license, and immediately thereafter the board stays the revocation and instead imposes probation with specific conditions included for each case.

In many instances where civil suits are filed against an abortionist, the medical board is never notified of the complaints. Indeed, when civil action is taken against abortionists, their defense is often to claim persecution by right-wingers and anti-abortion groups who, they claim, want to prevent them from providing a service for women. In an October 24 Associated Press report, Steir's attorney, Doron Weinberg, said that the charges against his client are a "political prosecution based on antipathy for abortions."

Although Steir's bail was initially set at $250,000, he was allowed to post $300,000 in equity on his home, and is now free on bail after spending a few days in jail. He will face charges in Riverside County. If convicted, he could face 15 years to life in prison.

Supervising medical board investigator John Martinez said he didn't know what else the state could have done in Steir's case. "I don't have the staff to monitor these people [on probation] on a 24-hour basis," he said.