Deonarine v. State

967 So. 2d 333, 2007 Fla. App. LEXIS 15569, 2007 WL 2847880
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedOctober 3, 2007
DocketNos. 4D05-2926, 4D06-671
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 967 So. 2d 333 (Deonarine v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Deonarine v. State, 967 So. 2d 333, 2007 Fla. App. LEXIS 15569, 2007 WL 2847880 (Fla. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

MAY, J.

The dangers of prescription drug abuse and the State’s efforts to curb the improper prescription of these drugs form the framework for this appeal. The defendant appeals his conviction and sentence for one count of trafficking in a Schedule II drug over 28 grams, one count of trafficking of a Schedule II drug over 4 grams but less than 14 grams, five counts of delivery of a Schedule IV drug, one count of racketeering, two counts of Medicaid fraud, one count of insurance fraud, and one count of a fraudulent insurance claim. He raises several arguments; we affirm on all issues but one. We reverse his conviction on the count for trafficking of a Schedule II drug over 28 grams, but affirm in all other respects.

In February 2001, one of the defendant’s patients died from a drug overdose. The patient’s death brought law enforcement’s attention to the defendant, Denis Deona-rine, M.D. Law enforcement reviewed various pharmacy records, patients’ medical histories, Medicaid records, and interviewed numerous individuals. During the investigation, a senior investigator from the Office of the Attorney General posed as a patient and sought treatment from the defendant. He secretly recorded conversations within the defendant’s office.

Based upon affidavits of that investigator, an investigator of the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office, and a special agent of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations, the court issued a search warrant for the defendant’s medical office. Law enforcement executed the warrant and created a nineteen-page inventory of items seized.

In its Second Amended Information, the State charged the defendant with five counts of Medicaid fraud, one count of insurance fraud, and one count of a false and fraudulent insurance claim. (Case number 01CF005383B02 [5383], covering events occurring between January and April 2001). Based upon a grand jury’s second re-filed indictment, the State charged the defendant with eighty offenses, including one count of first degree murder, one count of racketeering, fifty-three counts of trafficking of a Schedule II drug (oxycodone), and twenty-five counts of sale/delivery of Schedule IV drugs (dia-zepam/alprazolam). (Case number 01CF008126A02 [8126], covering events between September 1999 and April 2001). The trial court consolidated the cases as [335]*335the result of an agreed-upon motion. Subsequently, the trial court severed the counts of insurance fraud and the false and fraudulent insurance claim based upon a defense motion.1

The defendant moved to suppress the evidence seized from his office, claiming the warrant was insufficient on its face, and that the affidavit failed to establish probable cause. He argued that law enforcement intentionally and recklessly obscured the lack of probable cause from the court. He also claimed the warrant was overbroad.

At the hearing on the motion to suppress, the State presented testimony from two of the investigators. The witnesses were able to detail the source of the information contained in the affidavit, but admitted to some omissions and inaccurate paraphrasing. The trial court ruled:

With the exception of the fact that there being other evidence, for whatever reason, was not included because it was superfluous, because it was irrelevant or was just extraneous to the real issues of probable cause.... And uh, and the only other issue is that the, the factual issues presented by the witnesses are such that the Court finds that the, the witnesses before the Court are honest, straightforward, and that if there was any important evidence that was not included in the, in the Affidavit which supported the search warrant, it would not have made any difference in the Court’s view to the ultimate outcome of the determination of probable cause, and accordingly the defendant’s motion is denied.

I, THE TRAFFICKING COUNTS

At trial, the State entered the defendant’s medical records for numerous patients as well as the testimony of several of them; however, the trafficking charges related only to Patient #1.. When Patient # 1 first met the defendant, she was homeless, staying with friends, and on Medicaid. She wanted stronger medication for pain; her friend gave her one of the defendant’s business cards. She hoped to get a prescription for OxyContin.

Her initial visit was on January 10, 2001. At that time, the defendant prescribed sixty 80 mg- tablets of OxyContin, Roxyeo-done, and Halcion. She recalled that the defendant did not review her general medical history, but relied on the MRI report she brought with her. The defendant did not inquire about her limitations in activity, and did not discuss alternatives to pain medication. During the examination, she disclosed her personal problems and the fact she was homeless. Before she left, the defendant asked her to dinner.

Sixteen days later, the defendant severed the doctor-patient relationship with Patient # 1, but Continued to prescribe opiates for her. The defendant then employed her to work in his office and bought her a 2000 Jaguar. Several weeks later, they went to Jamaica on vacation.

The defendant wrote prescriptions for her regularly. Between Febrüary and May 2.001, the defendant increased her OxyContin prescription from one pill every twelve hours to two pills three times a day.

On several occasions the defendant accompanied her to the pharmacy to fill them. He was aware that she was using multiple pharmacies to fill the prescriptions, and that both her health insurance through her employment with him and [336]*336Medicaid paid for them. She knew that Medicaid coverage was no longer valid once she acquired health insurance.

A. Count #12

The State’s evidence against the defendant on Count 12 for trafficking of a Schedule II drug in an amount of 28 grams or more centered on two different sets of prescriptions written for Patient #1. In one set, the State introduced a print-out of Patient # l’s profile from Walgreen’s pharmacy, focusing on the prescriptions for Oxycodone, OxyContin, and OxylR, prescribed by the defendant and filled by the pharmacy, between January 29, 2001, and March 31, 2001. The total weight of active ingredient was 38.37 grams.

As the second set, the State also introduced seven of ten written prescriptions and a pill bottle containing OxyContin that were seized from Patient # l’s purse during the search of the defendant’s office. The total weight of Oxycodone from the seven written prescriptions was 21.45 grams while the pill bottle constituted the balance for the offense.

B. Count #15

The State’s evidence supporting the trafficking in Schedule II drugs in an amount between 4 and 14 grams (Count 15) consisted of proof that Patient # 1 presented two prescriptions at Eckerd Pharmacy on February 21, 2001. The pharmacist on duty that day testified that one of the prescriptions raised suspicion. The defendant was present at the counter and discussed the prescription with the pharmacist, but could not produce his credentials. Not only was the pharmacist dissatisfied with the defendant’s verification of his identity, she did not have a sufficient stock of OxyContin to fill the prescriptions. The pharmacist returned both prescriptions unfilled.

II. THE DEFENDANT’S MOTIONS FOR JUDGMENT OF ACQUITTAL

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Knipp v. State
67 So. 3d 376 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
967 So. 2d 333, 2007 Fla. App. LEXIS 15569, 2007 WL 2847880, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/deonarine-v-state-fladistctapp-2007.