(l-r) Attorney Ron Bamieh, his client Dr.Andrew Bourne and Joe Walker (image courtesty of KEYT-TV, Santa Barbara)
(Update Thursday, 11am – Joe Walker has posted bail and is no longer in jail.)
He’s going home. That’s what attorney Ron Bamieh said about his client, Dr. Andrew Bourne of Mammoth Lakes. He also commented on a declaration made by a Santa Barbara investigator.
Bamieh said that the terms of his client’s release include the order that he must stay in Mammoth Lakes or in Ventura County where his attorney is located. He is also allowed to attend court in Santa Barbara County. Asked if Bourne must wear an electronic device as a term of release, Bamieh said, “He may have to to avoid false accusations of his whereabouts.” The attorney said the Santa Barbara County Sheriff doesn’t have the ability to deal with electronic devices so Bourne may have to hire a private company.
As for the original bail set on Bourne and Joe Walker for a million dollars each, Bamieh called it “an extraordinarily high bail.” He pointed to the fact that Joe Walker faces a charge of actual sexual intercourse with a minor and Bourne does not, yet they have the same bail. Bamieh called it “ridiculous” to treat them the same. The million dollar bail was reduced to $750,000 on each man during a hearing Tuesday. At last word, Joe Walker remained in custody at the Santa Barbara County Jail.
Both Walker and Bourne face charges of contacting a minor for purposes of sex. Walker also stands charged with commission of a lewd act on a child of 14 or 15. Santa Barbara Deputy DA Mary Barron said in open court that she expects to file additional charges. Asked about that, Bourne’s attorney said he didn’t know what Barron was talking about. He said he has seen no discovery evidence yet.
Asked about the declaration filed in conjunction with bail in this case, Bamieh said it includes “a lot of suspicions and opinion” by a police officer, J.C. Hunter of the Santa Barbara Police force. The attorney said that the officer accused his client of improper conduct with a young girl, based on email communication. Bamieh said it’s a lot of opinion and the context of the emails is unclear. He hopes to have more evidence from the District Attorney’s office by the next hearing on January 19th.
Meanwhile, Mammoth Hospital CEO, Gary Boyd, issued an assurance of surgical coverage in Dr. Bourne’s absence. Boyd gave us this statement:
“We have been working on General Surgery coverage for the past week and Mammoth Hospital has call and clinic coverage starting Friday evening, January 13 through March 1. Key individuals providing coverage are: Bryan Fandrich, M.D., and Marc Sedwitz, M.D., two long-term physicians who have provided coverage at Mammoth Hospital, and two locum tenens surgeons. As the situation evolves with Dr. Andrew Bourne, we will continue to provide scheduling of providers for General Surgery, clinic, and call coverage and, if necessary, provide permanent staffing.
I realize that this is a difficult time for everyone but we are committed to providing high quality health care to our patients and community, including General Surgery. In addition, I would like to thank Northern Inyo Hospital for providing surgical back up to our Hospital these past few days.”
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I’ve had first hand experience with Mammoth’s poor choice of doctors. What’s with the rumor of CDC looking into the hospital?
Maybe it’s just luck Rob but I’ve had excellent care at Mammoth Hospital. You can find winners and losers anywhere, and while I’ve definitely encountered a few of the latter elsewhere I’ve been treated only by the former in Mammoth. And no, I’m not affiliated with the hospital or with anyone who works there.
Bad luck on my part for sure. It was in the early 80’s hopefully they are at least drug testing doctors now.
I think we all agree that a crime is a crime. The guilty should be punished and victims should get compassion. But what if Bourne didn’t do it? Ken Warner is raising questions about guilt and innocence. Ken is not justifying criminal and immoral acts. He’s simply asking if the case against Bourne is sound. I think it’s reasonable to question reported statements by the prosecutor saying Bourne was considering a suicide pact. I mean, really? Statements like that make me question the rest of the case.
Also, you imply that Bourne came here because he had problems elsewhere. If you actually know something, you should contact the prosecutor. Otherwise, don’t smear.
Yes! And thank you. You’re one of the few to get it….
Of coarse,nobody wants to see an innocent person get convicted of anything.But then again,lots of people are tired of seeing guilty people getting off with nothing,or little more than a slap on the wrist.Nobody knows what really happened here with these two Mammoth men and the 13 year old,but for the prosecutor making the statements he has made,and with all the evidence he seems to have,and the (alleged”) 1,000 E-Mails,there seems to be a lot to this story that don’t look too good for these 2 grown 40-something men…and what was going on with a 13 year old girl….If the prosecutor has phone and E-mail evidence,this will be an easy case to bring to a trial, and probably easy to get a conviction..with or without co-operation from the 13 year old girl.From what is coming out,I doubt they are basing their case on what the teen-age girl has told them.Ken.Warner..the resume of Mr.Bourne looks impressive….but that should not matter if he did what he is being charged with.
Did you read through the links I posted above? It’s another case D. A. Barron brought to trial and was very controversial. Worth reading for perspective.
“Barron’s success in selling that story was abetted by (the) defense attorney’s … (“possible” – my word) failure to point out the logical improbabilities and logistical impossibilities.”
Ken, the above quote is from one of your links…..the way that case went may have been the fault of the defense attorney’s lack of follow-through…the defense attorney seemed to have possibly failed his client….Barron may or may not have had a case, but it was the defense attorney’s job to set the record straight, which he seemingly may have failed to do based upon the reporters story.
Again, it was the reporter telling a story, and sometimes those stories are not accurate either.
We will all just have to wait to see how the legal system handles these cases.
Ken….Read the links you posted…and seems to me not all that controversial concerning the case you were mentioning…Where have we heard this before?….A star athlete convicted of a crime….and once convicted,he claims ineffective counsel,prosecutorial and police misconduct,and blaming the victim…not once but twice…..apparently saying she was the one that either assaulted him,or was the one that brought on what she claimed happened on the beach.And then,another victim of another apparent attack by this guy comes forward….Unless I missed something on the story,which I might have, being in a hurry to read it,the guy was convicted …by a jury…of the crime of rape.
I don’t know what the post was, but we have deleted some posts that make unsubstantiated allegations against Bourne or Walker.
Benett Kessler
To me it doesn’t even matter if anything was actually acted upon. The fact that 2 grown men didn’t have enough sense, decency or morals to stay away from this scenario is disgusting.
Must be nice to have that kind of $!
I hope they bump into my hungry ant hill in the woods!
This guy,Bourne,sounds like a real “good guy”……but nonetheless,sounds to me like some of those in Mammoth feel he should get a mulligan on this one…like what he “allegedly” did,and planned to do with this young teenager was “no big deal”.
Do we even know “what he (Bourne) planned to do with this young teenager” yet? It seems to me that for all the heat this case has generated, there has been very little in the way of known facts presented thus far. That’s not to say that where there’s smoke, there is likely a fire…but even so.
This is a story that will need to be played out before anyone can safely say whether or not the “good” doctor (to some) is guilty of anything other than indiscretion. For the sake of this child, I hope that is the case.
Charles….Problem is “indiscretion”,when it happens to be with a 13 year old girl …That’s a crime….in fact,a big time felony.And you mention “Do we even know what he planned to do with this young teenager?”…My guess will be those 1,000 E-mails (allegedly)sent to her will give the D.A.a pretty good idea what he had on his mind what he planned to do.Besides,I doubt anyone that has a 13 year old daughter would want some grown man doing much of anything with her,don’t you think?
I don’t think anyone feels that way nor has said that. However, people do feel that his alleged crime is somewhat a lesser crime than Walkers…..and that they hope the judicial system is allowed to work.
http://mammothhospital.com/services/spc/GenSurg.php
ANDREW C. BOURNE F.A.C.S.,is board certified in Surgery and Vascular Surgery by the American Board of Surgery. He completed a bachelor’s degree from Loma Linda University and a medical degree from the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse NY where he also performed postgraduate training in pathology. He completed an internship at Emanuel Hospital in Portland OR and a General Surgical Residency as well as a Vascular Surgical Fellowship at the University of Utah Medical Center in 2001. This was followed by additional formal endovascular training at the University of Rochester. Prior to coming to Mammoth Hospital he was a partner in Northwest Surgical Specialists in Eugene OR for almost six years and was on staff at Sacred Heart Medical Center and McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in Eugene and Springfield OR. He was a founding director of the Oregon Heart and Vascular Institute and was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Oregon where he taught human physiology. He has extensive training and experience in laparoscopic surgery and endoscopy. He is a member of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the only medical society that requires documentation of specific training in GI endoscopic procedures. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.
Dr. Bourne served as Vice Chief of Staff at Mammoth Hospital from 2008-2009 and Chief of Staff from 2010-2011. He has served on the Mammoth Unified School District Board since 2008. In addition to local community service he continues to volunteer his surgical skills for medical mission work in countries including Mexico, Jamaica and the Philippines. In 2008, he participated in a volunteer trauma surgery program at the US Army Landstuhl Medical Center caring for casualties of conflicts in the Middle East. He is an avid mountaineer and ski touring enthusiast and has lived in Mammoth Lakes with his wife and two children since early 2006. He is fluent in French and conversant in Spanish.
He is committed to providing the highest standards of surgical and endoscopic care to the Eastern Sierra.
——————–
And he is accused of unlawful contact with a (now 16 year old) minor in order to brain wash her into submission for the purposes of lewd acts and was planning to “flee” in a vehicle loaded with weapons and several days of food and $5000 and then commit suicide to “escape”. This is a scenario out of a movie.
And are all allegations from Senior Deputy District Attorney Mary Barron who was recently the prosecutor on another high profile and controversial case.
http://www.independent.com/search/?query=Senior+Deputy+District+Attorney+Mary+Barron&x=12&y=1
http://www.independent.com/news/2011/sep/26/judge-denies-frimpongs-writ-emhabeas-corpusem/
http://www.independent.com/news/2009/dec/30/exonerating-eric-frimpong/
I am not defending anybody — I’m just trying to make sense from all this and it just doesn’t make any sense.
Apparantly no one has read “the sheet” that said Bourne was getting ready to flee with the girl, he had packed his car with weapons and 5k in cash. The emails even said that he and the girl considered suicide as an option to escape. But don’t worry, he’s not a flight risk…yea right!
Bourne has also resigned from the school board.
I read the Sheet article. It also said Bourne’s wife didn’t know about the 5k in the car, or the fact is was packed up and ready to hit the road with “enough supplies and weapons to last a few days.”
So much for the speculation the prosecutor is on a fishing expedition!
The most disturbing information to come out of the estimated 1000 e-mails is this:
Mr. Walker, in some of the emails exchanged, said that he would continue the relationship once the girl turned 18.
Wow, sounds delusional at best.
Wow! Loads in interesting tidbits here:
http://www.independent.com/news/2012/jan/12/accused-mammoth-men-appear-court/
“In asking Judge George Eskin to keep the bail at the original $1 million, Senior Deputy District Attorney Mary Barron told the judge to consider the seriousness of the alleged crimes. She said the two men “nurtured” relationships with the girl in clandestine meetings, with Walker even meeting the girl at her school on one occasion. The girl has shown a “continuous expression of affection” for the men, Barron said, in particular for Bourne. The victim, Barron said, was extremely vulnerable and “appears to have been essentially brainwashed and groomed by two grown men.”
The family (Walker’s parents were present in the courtroom) would be posting the bail, he noted, thus torpedoing his chances of skipping out of town.
The men’s actions were not forcible or violent, Eaton said, but based on consensual conduct. “He’s responsible because he’s an adult,” Eaton said, “whether we like it or not.” Eskin replied, “We don’t.”
Kinda echoes EXACTLY what I said yesterday,doesn’t it.
Looks like the DA is on a fishing expedition at the expense of Bourne. You would think that the DA would need to produce something substantial other than a personal declaration prior to demanding a Million Dollars for Bail.
I think we should think about that. We might just see Bourne set free!
Why the poor rating, It’s probably the truth. Some DA’s cannot be trusted. We might just find out that Bourne had nothing to do with this whole thing other than being a friend of Walker. That in itself does not make him guilty.