DOCTOR SUES TERREBONNE PROSECUTOR OVER DRUG INVESTIGATION

A New Orleans-area physician wants local authorities who suspect him of
illegal drug trafficking to put up or shut up and has filed a $30 million
lawsuit in federal court to get his point across.

But Terrebonne Parish prosecutors are branding the suit a ruse intended to
derail a complex and lengthy investigation into the alleged appearance of
drugs such as the time-release painkiller oxycontin ending up on local streets.

Terrebonne officials say their efforts will continue when a special grand
jury reconvenes next month.

The civil rights suit was filed Friday at U.S. District Court in New
Orleans by Dr. Walter O. Sanders Jr. of St. Tammany Parish. It alleges that
a Terrebonne Parish prosecutor and drug investigators are turning his
pain-management and psychiatric practice into a ruin.

The 14-page pleading, prepared by attorney Gerald Aurillo, says that for
more than a year, prosecutors have used the grand jury process for a
fishing expedition. It claims that investigators have threatened, harassed
and manhandled Sanders' patients, seized their medical records from
pharmacies and badgered them into making statements implicating him in a
suspected fake-prescription-writing scheme.

No charges have been filed against Sanders in connection with the lengthy
probe, though the doctor does face unrelated criminal charges related to
illegal drug possession pending in Orleans Parish.

Named as defendants in the suit are Terrebonne First Assistant District
Attorney Mark Rhodes, Plaquemines Parish sheriff's deputy Warren J.
Gilbert, Terrebonne deputy Melody Cantrell Gilbert and two other drug
investigators identified as Richard M. Dobus Jr. and Michael Hyatt. Also
named is the Louisiana Board of Medical Examiners; its director of
investigations, Dr. John B. Bobear; and a board investigator, Charles
Fleetwood.

The suit says the medical board is investigating a complaint against
Sanders brought by Terrebonne authorities.

Terrebonne Parish District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr. is not named as a
defendant but is aware of the investigation as well as the unique lawsuit
it has spawned naming his second-in-command.

"We are dealing with what we feel is a serious case where thousands of
oxycontin pills and other serious narcotics are getting to the streets of
our parish," Waitz said. "We're going to do everything in our power to
ensure that we stop this."

Rhodes said he is convinced the suit lacks merit, noting special immunity
prosecutors have against legal actions brought against them when their work
is done in good faith.

The investigation, he and others close to the case said, has been delayed
by some administrative issues. Putting such an investigation together for
presentation in secret to the grand jury, prosecutors said, can be an
arduous task.

"It is our belief that this is merely a ploy by Dr. Sanders to attempt to
have the District Attorney's Office recused in order to avoid scrutiny by
the grand jury," said Rhodes, a self-proclaimed pit bull of a prosecutor
with a penchant for bringing messianic zeal to the courtroom. "I'm very
comfortable with this case, and I am not going to be deterred."

Documents relating to charges against Sanders in Orleans Parish state that
on Feb. 19, police seized drug paraphernalia, $147,982.00 in cash, and
suspected cocaine, marijuana and hashish.

Sanders, his lawyer maintains, was helping a friend move when his car was
stopped, and the items were not his. Lab results are not yet available.

Aurillo said he is not interested in thwarting legitimate prosecution of
his client. But if prosecutors believe they have a case, Aurillo said, they
should follow the rules and not continually hound Sanders or his patients.

Oxycontin is described by doctors as a time-release version of a powerful
painkiller. People who abuse the drug for its narcotic effect crush the
capsules and ingest the painkiller directly, sometimes by snorting.

Terrebonne Sheriff Jerry Larpenter, who is not named in the suit but who is
the boss of one of the defendants, Cantrell Gilbert, said he is aware of
the investigation. Cantrell Gilbert, he said, is an experienced and
conscientious deputy.

"There is a criminal investigation going on, and he (Sanders) may be a
target," Larpenter said. "There's nothing illegal about a grand jury
investigation, but today attorneys sue anybody.

"If we have information about whether there are narcotics being
distributed, we have an obligation to look into it. The evidence will be
presented. If a grand jury comes up with a no-true bill, good for him. If
there's an indictment, it still does not mean he is guilty. He still has
due process."