People v. Chopra, A115508 (Cal. App. 12/19/2007)

• Decision Date: 19 December 2007
• Docket Number: A115508
• Parties: THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. REENA D. CHOPRA, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

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THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. REENA D. CHOPRA, Defendant and Appellant.

A115508

Court of Appeals of California, First Appellate District, Division One

December 19, 2007

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

Appeal from the Alameda County, Super. Ct. No. H36945.

SWAGER, J.

Defendant was convicted following a jury trial of one count of practicing medicine without a license (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 2052),¹ and was sentenced to a term of two years in state prison. In this appeal she claims that she received inadequate assistance of counsel, evidence of uncharged misconduct was erroneously admitted, and the CALCRIM No. 220 instruction on the burden of proof was defective. Defendant also complains of two sentencing errors: the denial of probation, and the imposition of a court security fee in the abstract of judgment. We find that defendant has not established incompetence of counsel in this appeal, the uncharged misconduct evidence was properly admitted, and the CALCRIM No. 220 instruction is not flawed. We further find no abuse of discretion in the denial of probation, and no error in the inclusion of a court security fee in the abstract of judgment. We therefore affirm the judgment.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The Conviction for Practicing Medicine Without a License (Count 1).

In June of 2003, Heena Balakrishnan lived in San Jose, and attended a Hindu Temple in Fremont. Defendant attended the same temple, and offered a "free medical consultation" there. Balakrishnan took her ailing mother, Sitaben Patel, to defendant for an examination. Balakrishnan asked defendant to examine her mother "to see if she can be exempt from the citizen test." She advised defendant of Patel's health problems: memory loss, depression, and "sensitive skin that is burning." Defendant represented to Balakrishnan that "she's a medical doctor with a Ph.D," and invited Balakrishnan to bring Patel to "her office in Fremont" the next day for an examination to "see if she qualifies to be exempt from the citizen test." Defendant also offered to sell Balakrishnan health insurance. Based on defendant's representations, Balakrishnan believed she was "a medical doctor with a Ph.D."

Balakrishnan took Patel to defendant's office in Fremont on June 23, 2003. Balakrishnan brought with her an "immigration form" (INS form) she obtained from the INS website to exempt Patel from the language proficiency citizenship test for health reasons. Before she arrived at defendant's office, Balakrishnan completed the "top part" of the INS form which provided personal information on Patel: her name, address, social security number, alien registration number, phone number, date of birth, and so forth.

Inside defendant's office Balakrishnan noticed a desk and a computer, along with a "name plate" that read "Dr. Reena Chopra." Balakrishnan gave defendant the INS form, and defendant proceeded with an examination of Patel, which consisted of a check of Patel's ears, eyes and blood pressure. Balakrishnan also gave defendant Patel's medical history and current "health issues." Defendant stated to Balakrishnan that no further examination of Patel was needed, as the INS would accept the form. Balakrishnan then gave defendant the INS form, which she agreed to complete by 9:00 that night. Before she left defendant's office, Patel also signed and dated the form to authorize "Dr. Reena Chopra" to conduct an examination. The remainder of the INS form, which asked for information on Patel's health status in a series of boxes, was still blank. Balakrishnan wrote defendant a check for $70 for services which included completion of the INS form.

Balakrishnan returned to defendant's office about 9:00 p.m. to pick up the INS form. The office was closed, but the form was in defendant's mailbox. Balakrishnan examined the form. The boxes on the form had been checked and "filled out" with information on Patel's clinical diagnosis and physical limitations. Also included on the form was defendant's name, address, telephone number, the letters "C-a" for licensing state, and a reference to "family" and "general practice."² The form was signed at the bottom of the page.

Balakrishnan noticed that much of defendant's handwriting was illegible. She called defendant with a request for her to type the information; defendant agreed. Balakrishnan returned to defendant's office the following day, where defendant typed a document on her computer to be attached to the INS form. The document recited Patel's medical impairments: reduced cognitive skills, memory deficit, confusion, dementia, and inability to learn or demonstrate knowledge. Defendant also placed a stamp on the document that read, "Life Improvement and Wellness Center." She did not sign the document, however, and still refused to do so when asked by Balakrishnan. When Balakrishnan continued to demand a signature, defendant finally signed and dated the document on top of the Life Improvement and Wellness Center stamp.

Balakrishnan realized that defendant's "medical license number" was still missing from the box at the bottom of page three of the form. Defendant became "angry" when Balakrishnan asked her "for her medical number," and refused to provide it. After a few telephone calls from Balakrishnan in which she demanded the medical license number, defendant finally provided one, "C12843." Balakrishnan wrote down the number given by defendant and transferred it in the appropriate box on the immigration form.

Defendant's behavior made Balakrishnan "suspicious," so she contacted an investigator with the "Medical Board" and discovered that defendant is "not a medical doctor." Balakrishnan demanded a return of her check from defendant. When defendant refused, Balakrishnan called her bank to "put a stop payment" on the check.

The medical license number given to Balakrishnan by defendant was actually issued to Dr. Hershell Copelan, now deceased, in June of 1950, and had expired on October 31, 2001. The licensing section manager of the California Medical Board testified that a search of the records of the licensing division revealed that no application for a medical license had ever been received from defendant, nor had any license been issued to her.

Expert testimony was adduced on the signature placed on the typed document defendant completed for attachment to the INS form. An inspector for the Alameda County District Attorney's Office obtained a series of handwriting exemplars from defendant. Defendant was asked to provide in "natural handwriting" her name, words, dates and numbers that appeared on the "INS form" and attached document she prepared for Balakrishnan. When defendant completed the exemplars she wrote very slowly, methodically and deliberately. On many different occasions, after completing the exemplar defendant "would go back" and add or alter letters or numbers.

An expert offered his opinion that defendant intentionally attempted to alter her normal "writing habits when providing the request[ed] exemplars." Still, the expert testified that defendant "wasn't able to alter everything," so he was able to get "a good idea of how she really writes." The expert examined the document attachment to the INS form which bore the stamp, "Life Improvement and Wellness Center," particularly the signature and date. He testified that the signature "began with a legible upper case R," but the remainder was a "series of illegible loops." According to the expert, the "R" was "very similar" to defendant's writing in the exemplars, and defendant "did write the date 6/23/03" on the document. The expert also offered his opinion that the signature of Patel on a document entitled "Life Improvement and Wellness Center Disclaimer" was a "tracing" from another "model signature."

At trial, the prosecution also offered in evidence portions of defendant's testimony at the preliminary hearing. Defendant testified that she completed only that portion of the INS form in her handwriting, including her name, address and telephone number. She denied that she wrote a medical license number on the INS form or prepared the document attachment for the form. Defendant also testified that she observed Patel sign the Life Improvement and Wellness Center Disclaimer form, which included an admonition that defendant was not a medical doctor.

The Charged Offenses for Practicing Medicine Without a License (Counts 2 and 3)³

Rajinder and Gurpal Khangura noticed an advertisement in a local newspaper for health insurance coverage with the "Reena Chopra Medical Group."⁴ The advertised cost of the medical insurance was "very cheap," $100 per year per person, so in December of 2002 they made arrangements with defendant to meet her in her office near Washington Hospital in Fremont. At the office, defendant was wearing a stethoscope and told them, "I'm the doctor." In response to Gurpal's questions, defendant said that the insurance covered treatment in hospitals. Gurpal testified that he "trusted" defendant, and gave her a check for $400 for medical insurance for himself, his wife, and their two sons.

Thereafter, the Khangura family received medical treatment from defendant. Sarwinder visited defendant's office in January of 2003, with a complaint of knee pain. Defendant took him to Washington Hospital for a "bone density test." Washington Hospital offers the general public free, unlimited access to a machine in the hospital community health resources library that tested bone density. While at the hospital defendant identified herself to the staff as a "doctor." After the test, defendant was given a "printout" with the results; Sarwinder did not get a copy of the document.⁵ Back at the office, defendant told Sarwinder that he had "low bone density," and advised him to curtail physical activities such as weightlifting. She also gave him two forms of pill medication to strengthen his bones, one in a bottle and the other in a foil pack. After the visit to defendant's office,...