Dr. Thomas Hess pleaded guilty to Obstruction of justice in the death of LPGA Golfer Erica Blasberg yesterday in Las Vegas. For the details, see here: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/doctor-erica-blasberg-suicide-pleads-guilty-obstruction/story?id=12287240
While I will not rehash the details of her death, there were some interesting developments that I took notice of.
1) The Blasberg family has made an appeal to the local county Board of Medicine to have Dr. Hess banned, removed, or sanctioned due to his alleged involvement in Erica’s death.
I was surprised that the family had to make this request and that the local board didn’t take it upon themselves to sanction Dr. Hess since it is undetermined that Erica was a patient (he was a family medicine doctor) but she had prescriptions from him in her home.
2) The Blasberg family will be seeking a civil suit against Dr. Hess for Erica’s Death.
This really got my attention. Not guilty verdicts have been overturned or been altered in civil trials as the actual physical act isn’t necessarily on trial (see: Simpson, O.J.). However, in doing so, all the evidence that the police seized from Dr. Hess’s home and office would have to be brought out in the open. The items reported like:
Computers: What do they expect to find there? Logs of prescriptions? Patient records? E-mails back and forth from Dr. Hess to Erica. If they had an “inappropriate” relationship, do you think her family really wants to read (and have the public read) their late daughters’ love letters? (If any) Do you think they even want to see Dr. Hess’s responses?
Cell Phone: Obviously they are looking for his sim card or other phone records, or text messages. I hope there aren’t any pictures or messages on there of the Greg Oden/Brett Farve variety. Potential to rub more salt in an already unrepairable wound.
Video Camera: Ok, this is the red flag for me. Hopefully this is just the police doing their due diligence. With all the “inappropriate” relationship mentions, I shutter to think would could be captured in video form, and what would be admitted as evidence. Does anyone want to see the graphic proof of that “relationship” if any exists? Could you imagine being in the courtroom with her parents when any or all of those images/videos are shown? That is not good. Hopefully there is nothing of consequence on the video….
White Plastic Trash Bags: She was found by authorities with a bag over her head. The coroner’s report agrees that she died of asphyxia, along with toxic levels of drugs in her system. Did Dr. Hess arrive on the scene with her trying to kill herself and help her finish the job? Were these the same kind of bag that they determined that she used to take her life? Did Dr. Hess use a bag himself to asphyxiate her in order to speed up the process (seeing that she was OD'ing)? I have not heard any report that he tried to revive her… wouldn’t that be your 1st instinct? At least check her pulse? Something? He called 911 from a phone and then left? How long was he there before he called 911? Was there something in the note that she left that named him? Ok, probably not as if there were, he would have been arrested…maybe.
I think you get my point though. With a pending civil suit, there might be a bunch of answers to our questions. The problem is, do we really need to have our questions answered? Could they possibly take away some of the good memories that her family and other have of her? If some lurid details come out of the trial, is that really what the family originally wanted? Obviously they want Dr. Hess to pay for his alleged involvement in Erica’s death. They have that right. The obvious thing is that none of this is going to bring Erica back. I just hope in the months moving forward that people continue to remember her and honor her memory as they knew her, not potentially as she may be portrayed by a defense attorney.
