Lawyer tells jury in Forest Park bribery trial that surgeons who took money followed his advice
Does signing a contract prepared by an experienced lawyer mean you're going to follow the law?
The feds say no. But William Meier, a Dallas healthcare lawyer, said during his testimony Wednesday in the Forest Park Medical Center bribery and kickback trial that it wasn't just about a piece of paper.
He told jurors his numerous discussions with his surgeon-clients - Michael Rimlawi, Douglas Won and Nick Nicholson - about the proper way to structure hospital marketing payments gave him a "window" into their minds and their honest intent. He said he drafted the hospital marketing contracts in question and spent more time helping the surgeons "implement" the agreements.
Meier was a key defense witness whose long-awaited testimony was a much fought-over topic before and during the federal trial in Dallas. The government wanted to bar his testimony on the grounds that his advice was irrelevant if he didn't know about his clients' criminal intent. But the defense team said their clients never intended to break the law and Meier's testimony would speak to that.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/03/27/lawyer-tells-jury-forest-park-bribery-trial-surgeons-took-money-followed-advice