May 28,2008
By: Teresa Lane
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

WEST PALM BEACH — An appeals court has overturned the manslaughter, drug trafficking and racketeering convictions of a former Port St. Lucie doctor, ruling jurors were tainted by irrelevant testimony about the doctor's gambling habit.

The decision means Asuncion Luyao, 66, may receive a third trial on charges she ran a "pill mill" from her office that ended with six of her former patients overdosing on oxycodone and other potent painkillers.

Jurors in 2006 found her responsible for only one of the deaths but convicted her of five counts of trafficking pain pills and one count of racketeering, resulting in a 50-year prison sentence.

Assistant State Attorney Erin Kirkwood, who prosecuted the case, said she'll probably ask the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach to rehear the case before the order becomes final. She declined comment on the ruling.

Defense attorney Brian Bieber said he's elated, but not surprised, by the outcome.


"We could not fathom any evidence more prejudicial and unrelated to the charge," Bieber said. "Without the gambling evidence, the playing field will be significantly more level, and we are very optimistic for Dr. Luyao's chances" in a third trial.

Judges said semiretired Circuit Judge Dwight Geiger erred in allowing witnesses to testify about Luyao's gambling habit because prosecutors didn't prove a connection between her modest losses and the alleged trafficking of oxycodone.

Still, judges didn't rule out the evidence being used in a subsequent trial, saying it could be allowed if the state introduced testimony, "perhaps from an expert in gambling addiction," to detail the possible effects of steadily increasing gambling activity and losses.

Appellate judges said testimony of an employee for the Palm Beach Princess gambling boat, which Luyao frequented, did not provide a motive for the alleged illegal activity. At trial, prosecutors said it could explain why Luyao wanted to keep patients addicted to narcotics in exchange for cash-only, $80 office fees required for monthly refills.

During the three-week trial in 2006, the gambling boat employee testified that Luyao bought $200,500 worth of gambling chips between 1999 and 2002 and lost $43,800. During the first trial, which ended with a hung jury, prosecutors argued only that greed motivated Luyao, who practiced medicine in Port St. Lucie for more than two decades.

At her sentencing hearing, the tiny grandmother said she was disillusioned with the justice system and disappointed in the jury's verdict. She called former patients' accusations "lies" and said she only tried to relieve their suffering.