New trial date set for Desai, two nurses in hepatitis case

District Judge Valerie Adair set an Oct. 22 trial date on Thursday for Dr. Dipak Desai and two nurse anesthetists facing criminal charges that stem from a 2007 hepatitis C outbreak.

In her first hearing since taking over the case last week, Adair set the new date over the objections of Desai's lawyer, Richard Wright, who said he needed at least a year to prepare for the trial.

The case against Desai was put on hold for some 18 months while his competency to assist his lawyers was examined. As a result, Wright said, he didn't prepare for trial during that period.

Desai, 62, who has some cognitive impairments because of two strokes, also will need considerable time to pore over a mass of documents with the defense team, Wright argued.

But Adair said she wanted the case to move forward as swiftly as possible, pointing out that Desai was found to have exaggerated the extent of his physical disabilities.

Adair was appointed to take over the case from former District Judge Donald Mosley, who retired March 2.

Desai and nurse anesthetists Keith Mathahs, 75, and Ronald Lakeman, 64 are facing felony charges, including racketeering, insurance fraud and neglect of patients. They were indicted in June 2010.

The charges, the result of one of the biggest investigations ever conducted by the Metropolitan Police Department, revolve around seven people who authorities say were infected with the potentially deadly hepatitis C virus at Desai's clinics in 2007.

All three defendants were in court on Thursday.

The trial had been set for Monday, but a host of issues, primarily revolving around the defense's effort to discover evidence in the complex case, forced its delay.

Most of the evidence issues involve the nonstop flow of documents that have surfaced in the civil litigation involving Desai and his clinics. One defense lawyer has estimated that 1 million or more pages of documents have been turned over to the defense, and more are being sought.

Defense lawyers have been going all out to gain access to sworn depositions and other documents in the civil cases.

Wright told Adair on Thursday that he intended to file several pretrial motions, including one for a change of venue outside Las Vegas, that would have to be resolved before the trial.

Desai's federal trial also is likely to be delayed, Wright said.

Desai is to be tried in federal court on May 22 with Tonya Rushing, his clinic manager, on one count of conspiracy and 25 counts of health care fraud.

A federal indictment alleged that the pair carried out a scheme from January 2005 through February 2008 to inflate the length of medical procedures and overbill health insurance companies.

Federal prosecutors have indicated they probably would wait to try their case until after the state trial, Wright said. The issue of Desai's competency to assist his lawyers hasn't been raised in the federal case.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.