A Sacramento Superior Court jury acquitted Dr. Scott Dodd Anderson on two counts of sexually abusing his patients but failed to reach verdicts on 15 others, prompting Judge Eugene L. Balanon to declare a mistrial on them.
Deputy District Attorney Laura West told the court immediately after the verdicts that her office will retry Anderson on the remaining counts.
Anderson had initially been charged on 26 felonies -- including three rapes -- and 15 misdemeanors, on suspicion that he had inappropriate physical contact with five patients. The complaint had been pared down to 13 felonies and nine misdemeanors when testimony began in his trial on Oct. 23, with the three rape counts dismissed by the DA's office due to insufficient evidence. Five more counts were dismissed during the trial.
Of the 15 counts that remain, eight of them are on felony charges of engaging in sexual contact with patients and seven are on misdemeanor accusations of sexual battery.
Jurors voted 10-2 to convict Anderson on four of the remaining counts, 9-3 to convict him on six more and 8-4 to convict him on two other counts. Jurors voted 9-3 and 8-4 to acquit him on two other counts and one of the charges resulted in a 6-6 tie.
Anderson was a workers' compensation doctor at U.S. HealthWorks on Folsom Boulevard who had been treating patients for on-the-job injuries. HIs accusers said he inappropriately touched them during visits they had with him in 2009.
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