From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Doctor admits to perjury in trial of man he sponsored in drug rehab
Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer
A San Francisco surgeon has pleaded guilty to perjury, admitting he lied under oath in an effort to get a man he had sponsored in a drug rehabilitation program off the hook for gun charges.
Bruce Barker, who remains a physician for Kaiser Permanente, was the key witness in the 2002 trial of Marvin Washington, a felon accused of illegally possessing a gun outside his home in San Francisco’s Holly Courts public housing project.
Prosecutors said a security officer at the housing project reported hearing gunshots at 5 p.m. on May 1, 2002, and saw Washington running with a gun. Police officers responded to the scene and found a semiautomatic pistol on the ledge outside Washington’s kitchen window and found a substance on his hands that tested positive for gunshot residue.
But Barker testified at length that he had been visiting Washington at the time and that he had been carrying a cell phone, not a gun. Barker had sponsored Washington in an organization he called Men in Motion.
“I know he’s innocent,” Barker testified. “I was there. I saw this. I know he’s innocent.”
Prosecutors said Barker’s account was impossible because the doctor had been performing surgery at the time - 4 miles away at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center on Geary Boulevard. Hospital records showed he’d been working in the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit until 5:35 p.m. that day.
Washington’s trial ended when he pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a gun with an altered serial number. A judge sentenced Washington to more than eight years in prison.
The FBI began an investigation into Barker’s testimony. A federal grand jury indicted him last year on three counts of perjury and one count of making a false statement to law enforcement.
Barker pleaded guilty to one count of perjury on Wednesday, admitting he knowingly and intentionally provided false testimony in Washington’s trial.
The sentencing of Barker is scheduled for 11 a.m. Feb. 8 He faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Barker is not in custody pending sentencing.
Kaiser spokeswoman Meg Walker said, “Dr. Barker does practice here at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco, and we are reviewing this latest development.”
Previously:
Kaiser Thrive Exposed would like to personally thank Dr. Geoff Galbraith - Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute board member; and Vice President, Hawaii Permanente Medical Group, Quality Improvement Management - for inspiring us to create this website. Did we make it into the top 5?
Kaiser spokeswoman Meg Walker said, “Dr. Barker does practice here at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco, and we are reviewing this latest development.”
The corruption don’t even raise their eyebrows anymore. “This latest development” — have there been past developments like this????
Exactly! What’s to review??? The man plead guilty. Kaiser should be careful, or they might create the impression that they like having doctors around who will perjure themselves in a legal proceeding. Now that couldn’t possibly be true, could it???
Kaiser Hawaii kept a doctor on staff for a long time that was convicted of importing the date rate drug GHB from Canada. That story is here.
[...] Kaiser Permanente surgeon Bruce Barker pleaded guilty to perjury last week. It has been suggested that a willingness to play fast and loose with the truth might be a desirable quality in a Kaiser doctor [...]
Barker is a good man who has helped alot of people. In his efforts to help people in need he obviously got caught up with a few that couldnt be helped. Sad situation