Grandstaff v. State

Citation171 P.3d 1176
Decision Date30 November 2007
Docket NumberNo. A-8128.,A-8128.
PartiesStephen W. GRANDSTAFF, Appellant, v. STATE of Alaska, Appellee.
CourtCourt of Appeals of Alaska

John A. Scukanec, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals, Anchorage, and Gregg D. Renkes, Attorney General, Juneau, for the Appellee.

Thomas V. Van Flein, Clapp, Peterson & Stowers, LLC, Anchorage, for Amicus Curiae Alaska Dental Society.

Before: COATS, Chief Judge, and MANNHEIMER and STEWART, Judges.

OPINION

STEWART, Judge.

Stephen A. Grandstaff was convicted of misconduct arising from his medical practice in Fairbanks. The State charged that Grandstaff manipulated vulnerable, drug-addicted patients to obtain sex from the patients in exchange for drugs or drug prescriptions. At trial, the jury found Grandstaff guilty of sexually assaulting patients, issuing prescriptions that had no medical purpose to those patients, and stealing Medicaid funds.

Grandstaff raises several challenges to his convictions and his sentence. We conclude that none of the issues raised in this appeal warrants reversing any of his convictions. We also reject Grandstaff's attacks on his sentence. Therefore, we affirm the superior court's judgment.

Background facts and proceedings

The State's case focused on four women who were Grandstaff's patients, S.Y., S.P., C.R., and E.S. In 1995, S.Y. sought treatment from Grandstaff for depression, anxiety, and endometriosis. S.Y. testified to a history of drug addiction, and indicated that her beginning efforts at drug treatment started in 1995 or 1996. Other doctors had previously prescribed pain pills for her, but they stopped due to her drug-seeking behavior; S.Y.'s medical records at Grandstaff's clinic, Tanana Valley Clinic, contained entries from other practitioners that indicated she was not to be given any more narcotics. Nevertheless, Grandstaff prescribed narcotic pain pills for her.

At first, S.Y. scheduled appointments with Grandstaff about once a month, but her appointments increased to once a week, and she went in for more pills every few days. As the frequency of her visits and prescriptions increased through the summer and fall of 1997, the tenor of her relationship with Grandstaff changed. Grandstaff's jokes became more sexual in nature, and S.Y.'s appointments began to include pelvic examinations. S.Y. testified that there was rarely a nurse in the room during those examinations, and that she did not have to express a medical need to get more pills. Throughout this period, her drug use increased.

On a visit in September 1997, Grandstaff examined S.Y.'s collarbone after a minor auto accident in which she had not been injured. Grandstaff moved one hand inside her shirt and touched her breast, and placed his other hand between her legs. He told her that "you know what I want, I know what you want, and I can't be giving you these pills for nothing." S.Y. left the clinic without getting any pills. Later that day, Grandstaff called S.Y. at her parents' house, asked how she was doing, and told her he had something for her. He came by soon after with a bottle of Percocet, a narcotic analgesic. After S.Y. took some of the pills, they went upstairs and had sex. S.Y. testified that the only reason she had sex with Grandstaff was to get the pills.

S.Y. continued to see Grandstaff because no other doctor would prescribe enough pills to satisfy her. S.Y. testified that she told Grandstaff more than once that she did not want to have sex anymore. She also told him that she wanted to enter drug treatment, but he did nothing to help her. S.Y. testified that during this period she was "really messed up in the head," and she was miserable.

On December 12, 1997, S.Y. arranged to meet Grandstaff at the Westmark Hotel across the street from his clinic. S.Y. testified that she did not want to have sex with Grandstaff anymore, so she asked a friend to drop by the hotel room while Grandstaff was there to scare him so that he would leave before they had sex, but after he had given her drugs. According to S.Y., Grandstaff arrived and looked around the room, then left and returned soon after with a bottle of Stadol and four Mepergan pills, both narcotic analgesics. S.Y. took most of the Stadol and all of the Mepergan, which made her "really fogged." She left to look for her friend, then returned to the room, where she and Grandstaff kissed "a little bit" before S.Y. passed out. When S.Y. woke up, she was naked and Grandstaff was having sex with her.

S.Y.'s mother testified that when S.Y. called home that night, her speech was slurred and incoherent. S.Y.'s mother also testified that Grandstaff called the next day, asked how S.Y. was doing, and then hung up.

According to S.Y.'s mother, Grandstaff frequently called S.Y. at her home. In April 1997, S.Y.'s mother asked Grandstaff whether they could plan an intervention or otherwise get help for S.Y. Grandstaff replied that he knew what he was doing and that S.Y. was an adult. On another occasion, when S.Y.'s mother challenged Grandstaff about the amount of drugs he was prescribing for S.Y., Grandstaff told her that she needed to back off and take care of her other children and her granddaughter (S.Y.'s daughter).

In late 1997 or early 1998, S.Y. overdosed and was hospitalized at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital (FMH). She was treated by Dr. Schultz, a psychiatrist, and she talked with him about her relationship with Grandstaff.

In March 1998, when S.Y. was living at the North Star Center in Fairbanks, she failed a drug test administered by the facility and later spoke with the police.

In August 1998, S.Y. was interviewed by Sergeant James Geier of the Fairbanks Police Department, who later became the chief investigating officer in the case against Grandstaff. Sergeant Geier obtained a Glass warrant1 in February 1999 and recorded two conversations between S.Y. and Grandstaff. In the second conversation, Grandstaff and S.Y. talked in person and Grandstaff claimed that he did not know she was an addict. He also stated that he "never consciously did any of those things that you're thinking of, any of those things you think I did." When S.Y. asked whether he had been "unconscious," Grandstaff answered, "No, but I think, you know, that we do things subconsciously without realizing what we're doing." S.Y. testified that during this conversation, Grandstaff leaned into the vehicle and touched her on her breasts and between her legs.

S.P. became a patient of Grandstaff's in the fall of 1996, after the doctor she had been seeing left the clinic. S.P. had been hospitalized for pneumonia, and she was also being treated for anxiety and depression. S.P. testified that before Grandstaff treated her, she had had problems with alcohol and had used methamphetamine and marijuana. S.P. discussed her drug and alcohol problems with Grandstaff.

S.P. testified that her initial appointments with Grandstaff seemed to be normal doctor-patient contacts. However, in October or November of 1996, during her third or fourth appointment, while Grandstaff was listening with a stethoscope on S.P.'s back, he pushed up her bra, fondled and sucked her breasts, and licked her neck and mouth. S.P. asked Grandstaff to stop. Grandstaff told her she needed to relax. In later visits, Grandstaff placed his fingers in S.P.'s vagina, made S.P. massage his penis and testicles until he ejaculated, and made S.P. perform fellatio on Grandstaff.

Grandstaff and S.P. started having sexual intercourse in November or December of 1996. After each visit, Grandstaff prescribed drugs for S.P. or gave her samples. S.P. would massage Grandstaff's penis while he wrote the prescription. S.P. testified that she could just walk into Grandstaff's office without an appointment, and that the amount of drugs he gave her increased after they started having sex. Though the drugs made her feel "like a zombie," S.P. continued seeing Grandstaff because she wanted the drugs. S.P. testified that Grandstaff wore tight underwear, similar to racquetball or bicycle shorts.

S.P. testified that in 1998, around the time of her birthday, she was sexually assaulted by her neighbor. She was upset on her next appointment with Grandstaff, and when she told him why, he told her she would feel better if she massaged his penis. During another appointment, Grandstaff entered the exam room quietly, signaled S.P. not to talk, and handed her a note on a napkin. According to S.P., the note said that if she said anything to anyone, he would "deny it because he's a doctor and I'm the patient," and "[h]e's got his career ahead of him." After she read the note, Grandstaff rinsed the note in the sink and threw it away, and S.P. left without getting any drugs. The last time S.P. went to see Grandstaff at the clinic, she was told he was not there due to a family emergency.

In 1998 or 1999, after S.Y. recorded the two conversations with Grandstaff, S.Y. approached S.P. at a Taco Bell because she recognized her from the pharmacy at the clinic building. S.Y. told S.P. that she was a patient of Grandstaff's, and asked S.P. if anything had happened with Grandstaff. S.P. told S.Y. that she obtained drugs by having sex with Grandstaff.

In March 1999, S.P. spoke with Sergeant Geier, who applied for another Glass warrant. The recording of the conversation between S.P. and Grandstaff failed due to a malfunction of the recording equipment, but Sergeant Geier testified that he heard Grandstaff tell S.P. she did not have to talk to the police, but could speak with his attorney if she needed any advice. At some point, S.P. also told Dr. Schultz, the psychiatrist, about her involvement with Grandstaff.

C.R. was clean and sober in January 1997 when she was released from prison after 3 1/2 years in custody. Soon after her release, she started seeing Grandstaff for a condition that caused a weakening of the muscles on her left side. She told...

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