People v. Santi

• Citation: 818 N.E.2d 1146,3 N.Y.3d 234,785 N.Y.S.2d 405
• Parties: THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. ANA MARIE SANTI, Appellant. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. PETER CORINES, Appellant.
• Decision Date: 21 October 2004
• Court: New York Court of Appeals

3 N.Y.3d 234

818 N.E.2d 1146

785 N.Y.S.2d 405

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. ANA MARIE SANTI, Appellant.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. PETER CORINES, Appellant.

Court of Appeals of the State of New York.

Argued September 9, 2004.

Decided October 21, 2004.

Appellate Advocates, New York City (Lynn W.L. Fahey of counsel), for appellant in the first above-entitled action.

Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General, New York City (Laurie M. Israel, Michael S. Belohlavek and Robin A. Forshaw of counsel), for respondent in the first above-entitled action.

Mark M. Baker, New York City, for appellant in the second above-entitled action. Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General, New York City (Laurie M. Israel, Caitlin J. Halligan, Michael Belohlavek and Robin A. Forshaw of counsel), for respondent in the second above-entitled action.

Chief Judge KAYE and Judges G.B. SMITH, ROSENBLATT, GRAFFEO, READ and R.S. SMITH concur.

OPINION OF THE COURT

CIPARICK, J.

We are asked to determine whether a licensed physician is subject to prosecution under Education Law § 6512 (1) for aiding and abetting an unauthorized individual in the unlawful practice of medicine. We conclude that the only reasonable interpretation of the statute does not exempt licensed individuals from criminal prosecution. Additionally, questions regarding sufficiency of the evidence, a response to a jury inquiry and potential juror misconduct are all likewise resolved in the People's favor.

Both appeals here arise out of the same set of facts. Defendant Peter Corines, a licensed medical doctor, owned and operated two medical offices — Surgical Consultants, P.C. and Ambulatory Anesthesia, P.C. — in Queens County, New York. From 1997 to 1998 defendant Ana Marie Santi worked intermittently for Corines at Surgical Consultants. Defendant Santi was licensed to practice medicine in August 1972. Originally, Corines hired Santi as an anesthesiologist, but on March 16, 1998, the Department of Health suspended Santi's license to practice medicine. Despite her suspension, Santi continued to work, in some capacity, at Surgical Consultants. Corines described her as a "medical assistant."

The Attorney General charged each defendant with four counts of unauthorized practice of medicine under Education Law § 6512 (1). The charges stemmed specifically from the treatment of three patients of defendant Corines.

On June 22, 1998, Patient A visited Surgical Consultants to have laser surgery. Defendant Santi entered the operating roomwhere Patient A was waiting and started an intravenous, or "I.V." line, placing the needle in the patient's right hand. The patient testified she immediately felt relaxed. Corines subsequently entered the room. Patient A then became unconscious and Corines began the surgery.

During the procedure, Patient A awoke twice, nauseous and in pain. The second time she awoke, Corines was not present in the room. To calm her, Santi gave her an injection and laid her down. Ultimately, following the procedure, she was led to a recovery room and fell asleep.

On July 28, 1998, Corines treated Patient B at Surgical Consultants. As Patient B testified, shortly after his arrival there, Santi entered the examination room and directed him to lie on his back. Santi then prepped and cleaned Patient B's right hand, unwrapped an I.V. needle and inserted it into the back of his hand. The needle was connected to tubing which led to an I.V. bag. Patient B said he felt a warm sensation and observed Santi adjust the flow of the liquid. Defendant Corines thereafter entered the room and performed the procedure. After it was complete, Santi returned and removed the needle from Patient B's hand, at which point he said he felt "woozy" and "a bit weak." He received no subsequent medical treatment from Corines.

Patient C testified that on December 4, 1998 she visited Surgical Consultants to have cosmetic eye surgery. Both Corines and Santi were present in the operating room. Corines, situated on Patient C's right side, engaged her in conversation. Santi, standing to the patient's left, inserted an I.V. into her left hand. Immediately after Santi placed the needle in her hand, according to Patient C, she felt the "medication" and fell into unconsciousness. When she awoke both Santi and Corines were in the room. Patient C remained a bit drowsy after she regained consciousness. Santi helped her dress and Patient C ultimately left the office. Following the surgery Patient C's eyelids became infected and she returned to Surgical Consultants on December 30, 1998 for treatment. Again, she testified, both Santi and Corines were present in the operating room. Corines informed her that he was going to give her an injection to help ease the pain. Santi then placed an I.V. line in Patient C's hand. Santi remained on the patient's left side, where the I.V. line was located. Corines remained on Patient C's right side, away from the I.V. line. Patient C felt the medication take effect. Corines then directed Santi to increase the flow of medication, and Patient C fell into unconsciousness. At trial, the People proceeded on the theory that, in each of the aforementioned instances, Santi engaged in the unauthorized practice of medicine by administering anesthesia, and that Corines aided and abetted her. Defendants, by contrast, claim that the I.V. lines contained either a simple water and glucose, or glucose saline, solution and that the I.V. lines that Santi initiated contained no anesthesia, and that she merely prepared the patients and Corines administered the anesthesia.

Following the People's proof, Corines moved for a trial order of dismissal claiming that the evidence was insufficient to support the charges. Specifically, defendant claimed that no "qualified" individual testified to the use of anesthesia. Santi joined the motion and further noted that even "held in the light most favorable to the People . . . [t]here is no specific proof as to actual drugs or anesthesia having been administered." The court reserved decision, ultimately denying defendants' motion. Following their case, defendants again moved to dismiss.¹ The court again reserved decision. The jury convicted both Santi and Corines on each of the four counts of unauthorized practice in violation of Education Law § 6512 (1). After conducting an investigation that revealed what defendants believed to be misconduct by a juror that improperly influenced other members of the jury, defendants moved to set aside the verdict. The court denied the motion without a hearing and defendants appealed.

The Appellate Division remanded the case for a hearing on the juror misconduct issue (see People v Corines, 295 AD2d 445

[2d Dept 2002]; People v Santi, 295 AD2d 457 [2d Dept 2002]). Following the hearing, the court again denied defendants' motions. Defendants again appealed.

The Appellate Division, this time addressing the merits, affirmed. The Court conducted both a sufficiency and factual review and ultimately concluded that "[t]he evidence adduced at trial demonstrated that the defendant practiced medicine without a license . . . by administering anesthesia to three patients" (People v Santi, 308 AD2d 464, 465 [2d Dept 2003]; see also People v Corines, 308 AD2d 457, 457-458

[2d Dept 2003]). The Court further held, with regard to defendant Corines, that he "aided and abetted Santi in her unlicensed practice of medicine" (Corines, 308 AD2d at 458). A Judge of this Court granted leave to appeal, and we now affirm each of the appeals.

I. Education Law § 6512

We begin our discussion with an analysis of defendant Corines' primary claim assailing the lower courts' interpretation of Education Law § 6512 (1). Specifically, defendant Corines contends that the plain language of section 6512 (1) exempts licensed individuals from criminal prosecution under the statute. We disagree.

Title VIII of the New York State Education Law regulates professional conduct and requires certain enumerated professionals, including physicians, to obtain a license in order to practice such professions lawfully (see generally Education Law § 6500 et seq.; Education Law §§ 6520, 6521). Education Law § 6512 (1) criminalizes the conduct of any individual who practices any of the enumerated professions in title VIII without authorization. Similarly, it criminalizes the conduct of anyone who aids and abets an unauthorized individual in the unlawful practice of any such profession (see Education Law § 6512 [1]; see also Penal Law § 20.00).

Specifically, Education Law § 6512 (1) provides that:

"Anyone not authorized to practice under this title who practices or offers to practice or holds himself out as being able to practice in any profession in which a license is a prerequisite to the practice of the acts, or who practices any profession as an exempt person during the time when his professional license is suspended, revoked or annulled, or who aids or abets an unlicensed person to practice a profession, or who fraudulently sells, files, furnishes, obtains, or who attempts fraudulently to sell, file, furnish or obtain any diploma, license, record or permit purporting to authorize the practice of a profession, shall be guilty of a class E felony."

In interpreting the statute we are guided by a well-settled principle of statutory construction: courts normally accord statutes their plain meaning, but "will not blindly apply the words of a statute to arrive at an unreasonable or absurd result" (Williams v Williams, 23 NY2d 592, 599 [1969]; see also Matter of Rouss, 221 NY 81, 91 [1917]; Holy Trinity Church v United States, 143 US 457, 460 [1892]). It is equally well settled that, "[i]n implementing a statute, the courts must of necessity examine the purpose of the statute and determine the intention of the Legislature" (Williams, 23 NY2d at 598). Indeed, "[t]he primary consideration of the courts in the construction of statutes is to...