Stevenson v. Com.

• Decision Date: 05 November 1999
• Docket Number: Record No. 990032.
• Citation: 258 Va. 485,522 S.E.2d 368
• Court: Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: William C. STEVENSON v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.

522 S.E.2d 368

258 Va. 485

William C. STEVENSON v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.

Record No. 990032.

Supreme Court of Virginia.

November 5, 1999.

Thomas C. Hill, Washington, DC (Elizabeth S. Becker; Shaw, Pittman, Washington, DC, on briefs), for appellant.

Robert H. Anderson, III, Assistant Attorney General (Mark L. Earley, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.

Present: All the Justices.

LACY, Justice.

William C. Stevenson, an Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of Liver Transplantation at the University of Virginia Medical School, was indicted by an Albemarle County grand jury on one count of forgery and one count of uttering a forged writing in violation of Code § 18.2-172. He pled not guilty and, following a two-day trial, a jury convicted Dr. Stevenson of forgery and recommended a fine of $1.00. The jury acquitted Dr. Stevenson on the charge of uttering a forged document. The Circuit Court of Albemarle County entered judgment on the jury verdict. The Court of Appeals, following a rehearing en banc, affirmed the judgment of the trial court by an evenly divided vote without opinion. Stevenson v. Commonwealth, 28 Va.App. 562, 507 S.E.2d 625 (1998).

The issue presented to us in this appeal is whether the facts of this case establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Dr. Stevenson committed forgery as charged in the indictment, that is, whether `loin or about February 6, 1996, in the County of Albemarle, WILLIAM C. STEVENSON did unlawfully, feloniously and knowingly forge a cardiac stress test writing, to the prejudice of Trigon Blue Cross/Blue Shield." The crime of forgery requires not only that a writing be forged, but that the forged writing prejudiced or could prejudice the right of another. Terry v. Commonwealth, 87 Va. 672, 673, 13 S.E. 104, 104 (1891).

In this case, Dr. Stevenson admits that he produced a forged writing by altering a date on his patient's cardiac stress test report. However, Dr. Stevenson argues that when he altered the stress test report, there was no possibility that the altered document did or could prejudice Trigon's rights. Therefore, Dr. Stevenson asserts he was not guilty of the crime of forgery. We agree.

The evidence taken in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the prevailing party at trial, showed the following. In 1995, Leonard Kraditor, a patient of Dr. Stevenson, began experiencing liver failure. Dr. Stevenson sought to have Kraditor placed on the nationwide list of patients needing organs, but was told by the University of Virginia Medical Center (Medical Center) personnel that it would not place Kraditor on the transplant list until Kraditor's medical insurance carrier, Trigon Blue Cross/Blue Shield (Trigon), pre-authorized payment for the transplant operation.

Dr. Stevenson was anxious to have Kraditor placed on the transplant list before the Christmas holiday. Although he submitted a letter explaining the medical necessity for the liver transplant as part of the procedure for obtaining pre-authorization from Trigon, and attempted to contact the director of medical policy at Trigon, he was unable to secure the pre-authorization before the Christmas holiday. Nevertheless, the administrator of the Medical Center agreed to place Kraditor on the transplant list without receiving pre-authorization for the transplant procedure from Trigon.

A liver became available and Dr. Stevenson successfully performed the transplant operation on January 21, 1996. The next day, January 22, 1996, unaware that the surgery had been performed, Trigon rejected the pre-authorization request because Trigon considered Kraditor a high risk for the surgery and...