Doc: The Rape of the Town of Lovell (30 page)

A If I did, it was certainly a very small comment on it, I believe.

Q ... Do you recall in the course of your conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Brinkerhoff if you made a comment to—and I may not be quoting exactly—of this having come up twelve years ago?

A I don't remember ever saying that.

Q Do you recall, Dr. Story, if during that meeting the subject came up of how you might change your practice of medicine in response to the complaints that were made by Mrs. Brinkerhoff?

A No. No, I don't.

Q Dr. Story, do you recall if during the meeting you indicated to Mr. Brinkerhoff that the current bill he had with you would be wiped out?

A No, I didn't make that comment. I didn't make it in the brief hearing.

Q Dr. Story, do you recall during the July 22nd informal interview with the Board that you did not know the identity of any of the complainants?

A Not officially.

Q Not officially. And, therefore, you didn't refer in the minutes to any individuals by name, I don't believe?

A I doubt that very much.

Q However, there is a reference in the minutes to your having —I believe the minutes say—lost your temper and told one of your patients that you would forget a bill of some thirteen hundred dollars, I believe it says in the minutes. Do you recall saying that to the Board of Medical Examiners?

A I remember not saying that.

Q The minutes are in error on that subject?

A The minutes are in error.

Q Dr. Story, do you recall being told by Mrs. Brinkerhoff a the meeting in the hospital that she intended to contact the Boarc of Medical Examiners?

A No, I don't remember that.

Q Accordingly, would you not recall—did you not say, "I can take care of them"?

A That I did not say. She may have commented oil the Medical Board, but I did not say that.

Q Dr. Story, would you tell us what you believe and what you recall of that meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Brinkerhoff?

A Yes. I asked them to meet with me, and after great difficulty I succeeded to meet with them. And due to this great difficulty,
that
conversation was silence and lack of communication, and I
had to
finally tell them why they were there. And, let's see, I finally
told
them why they were there because of things I had heard from
the
mother and Joe Brown and through Dr. Welch.

Q What had you heard, Dr. Story, in a general way?

A That there were rumors about my abuse of those two girls,
two
daughters.

Q That would be Minda Brinkerhoff and Meg Anderson?

A And Meg Anderson, right.

Q Dr. Story, do you recall what you said to Mr. and Mrs. Brinkerhoff that night at the hospital regarding these accusations?

A Yes. I told them they weren't true.

Q Dr. Story, at the time of the informal interview of July 22nd, you recall telling the Board that you had instituted the practice of having a third person present for pelvic examinations?

A Yes.

Q Do you also recall, Doctor, telling the Board about a reduction in the number of pelvic examinations you were conducting?

A Yes.

Q Do you recall what that reduction was?

A No. I didn't give any numbers what the reduction was. I didn't—and it wasn't quite that simple. It was a reduction in practice and reduction in pelvics.

Q I believe the minutes state that your pelvics had been cut in half. Would the minutes be in error?

A Yes, the minutes—well, no, that could be almost true. That could be. It could have been cut almost in half.

Q Well, could you explain to us what the reduction in practice entailed and why that came about?

A Well, I interpreted it two ways: a recession that was evident at least among all medical people in our area at that time and throughout the entire year, and then the effect of rumors.

Q Dr. Story, in estimating the reduction in the number of pelvics for whatever reason, be it the recession or the dropping in practice, in coming up with the figure of 50 percent, did you conduct a survey of the number of pelvic examinations that had been performed in your office during any set period of time?

A Have I done this?

Q Yes.

A Yes, I have. Yes.

Q You have. Could you tell us, Dr. Story, taking as a cutoff point June of 1983, approximately how many pelvic examinations you would have performed in a month in your office?

A Before the end of 1983?

Q Before June of 1983. June will be the cutoff point because of the June incident.

A Yes. I can tell you pelvic exams for January of 1980, which I had access to, and it was thirty some, about thirty pelvic exams that month, January, 1980.

Q And how many pelvic examinations did you conduct last month, Dr. Story? Do you recall?

A I counted the pelvic examinations for the largest first fourteen days of January, February of this year, and that was about thirty-five pelvic exams.

Q Dr. Story, you've mentioned the recession.

A Wait! I think I have that reversed. I think it was thirty-five in 1980 and thirty for the fourteen days. And I also have percentages on that.

Q Doctor, I may not be hearing you right. That doesn't seem like a reduction. You got thirty-five in one month in 1980 and thirty in fourteen days of this year. It sounds to me like you've done twice as many. . . .

A ... It surprised me that percentagewise I did more pelvics the first fourteen good days of this year than I did in 1980.

Q Well, going back to your statement that was made to the Board of Medical Examiners in July that your pelvics would be cut in half, it would appear in practice that did not occur?

A No, it didn't. . . .

Hearing Officer Raper Do
you wish to examine at this time, Mr. Kepler?

Charles Kepler
Just very briefly. ... We will have the doctor in our case in chief. There's just no sense of doubling up, but only one or two points I wanted to clarify.

Q In your informal meeting with representatives of the Board • . . was it your intention that you were representing to the Board that you would cut the number of pelvic exams?

A No, I had no understanding of that sort.

Q ... The study to which you referred to this morning, when was that made?

A Oh, three or four days ago.

Q And it wasn't a very scientific study? It was just a sampling of fourteen comparative days?

A Yes. Yes. . . .

Kathy Karpan
Your Honor, having called Dr. John Story, the State would rest its case. . . .

Charles Kepler
Our first witness, Your Honor. . . .

TESTIMONY OF IMOGENE HANSEN

q
(By
Loretta Kepler
) What is your occupation?

A I'm a nurse, registered nurse. . . . with thirty-seven years' experience. ... I was employed as [Dr. Story's] office nurse for four and a half years. . . .

Q Did anyone ever complain to you or tell you that Dr. Story had exposed his penis to anyone?

A Well, not in that—those words, no. . . . Shortly after I went to work for Dr. Story, I heard that there was some unprofessional conduct going on in the office. . . . Well, I was very indignant. I thought that that was just a vicious rumor that somebody had started. And that's what I told the person. . . .

Q Did you hear any rumors after that?

A No, I did not. . . .

q
(By
Kathy Karpan) How
did you notify Dr. Story that he had received a telephone call?

A We knocked on the door and then he usually came to the door.

Q Did you ever walk in the door after you knocked, or would you wait for Dr. Story to come to the door?

A No. I waited for him to come to the door. . . .

Q (By
Board Member Sam
T.
Scaling, M
.D.) . . . During the time that you worked for Dr. Story, was there ever a question in your mind about the validity of some of these rumors that you had heard?

A No. And this—you know, this hearing totally surprises me because I'm sure that subconsciously ... I must have looked for some kind of something like that going on. There was never in any ■—all the time I worked there, ever anything that I could find or see that was out of line.

TESTIMONY OF NITA BRONKEMA

Q
(By
Loretta Kepler
) . . . When did you work for him?

A From September 15, 1968, to . . . 1974, when he did surgery on me. ... I was his office nurse.

Q ... Now while you were working for Dr. Story, did you ever interrupt him while he was doing a pelvic examination?

A Many times. Many times.

Q And why did you interrupt him?

A Well, Dr. Story had very specific rules which I learned, and it's strange that I've never forgotten them. Number one is that if any member of his family [called], I would knock and wait until I heard his muffled voice usually saying "Nita," and then I would go in. However, if the hospital called and it was an emergency, I just knocked with one hand, had my hand on the doorknob, and was already in and say, "Hospital, Doctor," and he gets up and leaves and I take care of the lady. . . .

Q Did you ever have an opportunity to see whether . . . anything improper was going on?

A There was never anything improper going on that I ever saw, nor did I have any lady complain of any.

Q Now have you had the opportunity to observe Dr. Story's behavior toward women?

A Yes. He is very, very definitely one of the nicest gentlemen I have ever seen.

Q Does he ever flirt with women?

A No. . . . Dr. Story need not flirt. He has a gorgeous wife.

TESTIMONY OF JUDY GIFFORD

Q
(By
Loretta Kepler
) What is your occupation?

A I'm an R.N.

Q ... How long have you worked for Dr. Story?

A Two years and three months [part time],

Q ... Did you ever observe Dr. Story doing anything inconsistent with proper pelvic examination?

A No. . . .

Q Now, would you have had occasion to learn how Dr. Story communicates to his patients?

THE RECORD

A Uh-huh. . . . It's very poor. ... I just feel that he's a very complicated man. I think he's exceptionally smart, and I think it's hard for him to relate to other people. . . . They will listen to what he says and take it just exactly the opposite, and then he becomes very frustrated. And I think sometimes he just kind of gives up trying to explain because it seems like everything gets mixed up.

q
(By
Kathleen Karpen
) . . . Have you heard rumors about Dr. Story's pelvic examinations?

A ... Yes, five and a half years ago . . . And my first reaction was, Boy, I'm not going to that doctor. And as time went on and the more I saw his work and got to know him, which probably took a year ... I definitely decided that, yes, he was the doctor that I wanted to take care of me.

Q (By
Loretta Kepler
) . . . Does Lovell have a reputation for being the kind of town where there is a lot of gossip?

A It certainly does.

43

ARDEN McARTHUR

Arden strode toward the witness stand at .10:20
a.m
. with her head held high. She was nervous, but she'd be danged if she'd show it.

She was glad to get away from Lovell for a day; the place was turning into a John Wayne movie set with the McArthurs wearing the black hats. Both the family stores were failing for lack of customers. She'd been snubbed in the streets by her own Mormon sisters and blood relatives. She'd received threatening phone calls and letters, including a neatly printed passage from Psalm 37: "The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. . . Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken." One of the Saints had demanded her excommunication "for putting Dr. Story through hell." A mutual acquaintance had passed along what purported to be Dr. Story's latest comment: "I'll break Arden physically, emotionally, spiritually and financially. If she thinks she's poor, she doesn't know what poor is."

He'd telephoned several times, as sweet as sorghum, acting as though they shared the same problem. "What are
we
gonna do
about
this?" he would ask, and she would answer, "I don't know what
you
are gonna do about it."

His final call had been four days ago. "Arden," he'd said, "I guess whatever happens, somebody's gonna be hurt one way or the