6:15 P.M. UPDATE:
Thursday’s proceedings in the sexual-assault trial of dentist Dr. Jose Turcios ended with testimony from his accuser, a teenage patient who says she was molested during a routine visit last year.
The patient, tearful at times, testified that on three occasions during a March 4, 2015, appointment at Healthy Smiles, Turcios inappropriately touched her or made sexual advances. She said assistants were out of the room for those instances.
On the first occasion that day, the then-15-year-old teen said Turcios leaned down and told her “I want you so bad” before kissing her on the mouth.
During cross-examination, Turcios’ attorney, Bill James, questioned the teen about Facebook posts in 2014 where she used similar language to describe pain as a result of dental work.
One of the posts used by the defense in an attempt to discredit the words the teen said the dentist used toward her described a baby sloth.
“I want this like so bad,” the teen said in the post.
James also questioned the teen patient on when nitrous oxide gas was used during her procedure.
The teen’s answer of “on and off” throughout most of the procedure was in contrast to testimony earlier Thursday made by a dental assistant assigned to her appointment at Healthy Smiles.
That dental assistant, Anita Henderson, said she had stopped sedating the teen with nitrous oxide about five minutes into the procedure.
The teen said on another occasion when she was left alone with Turcios on March 4, the dentist kissed her again with his tongue in her mouth. He later grabbed her right hand and placed it in his private area and groped her, she said.
During the last occasion, the patient said Turcios “shoved his fingers down my throat in a sexual way.”
Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen paused the testimony shortly before 6 p.m. Thursday to allow the court to go into recess for the day. The teenage patient was set to be back on the stand Friday morning in the three-day trial.
Read Friday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
— Brandon Riddle
3:45 P.M. UPDATE:
Four witnesses testified Thursday afternoon in the sexual-assault trial of dentist Dr. Jose Turcios before court went into a 15-minute recess about 3:25 p.m.
KARK/KLRT reporter Hilary Hunt was set to return on the stand after the recess as the court was expected to continue watching an interview that she had conducted at the office of Turcios’ attorney, Bill James.
Earlier witnesses included a Little Rock detective who told the court that she was aware of five times in which the dentist was left alone with a teenage patient at Healthy Smiles.
Juvenile detective Tabitha Carter said she was not certain of whether the then-15-year-old patient was on nitrous oxide gas when Turcios was alone in the patient room.
The use of nitrous oxide gas has been a focus of Turcios’ trial, with the patient accusing Turcios of molesting her while she was sedated on the gas.
Anita Henderson, a dental assistant at Healthy Smiles, testified that Turcios was not alone with the teen when nitrous oxide gas was being administered.
Henderson, who has worked for the practice for more than a year, also provided a detailed description before jurors in Pulaski County Circuit Court of the patient’s visit March 4, 2015.
Before a numbing shot, the teen was given nitrous oxide gas for a dental procedure that included a filling and orthodontic check, Henderson testified. The gas was turned off for the shot and turned back on for the procedure, she said.
Henderson said that about five minutes into the procedure, the nitrous oxide was turned off and never turned back on when the patient said that she was anxious.
Another employee of the Little Rock Police Department answered questions about collected evidence and the nature of photographing the patient room at different angles.
Check back with ArkansasOnline for updates and read Friday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
— Brandon Riddle
12:30 P.M. UPDATE:
An audio recording of a police interview with Little Rock dentist Dr. Jose Turcios was played for the jury Thursday during his trial on charges of molesting a teenage patient.
The recording, which was submitted by the prosecution, is of Little Rock police juvenile detectives Tabitha Carter and Jared McCauley interviewing Turcios about an appointment he had with a 15-year-old patient a week before in March 2015.
At first, Turcios could not recall for the detectives whether the teen needed nitrous oxide during the appointment but later said that she did, which caused her to relax and have her hand fall onto his knee, he said. He told police he removed her hand.
Turcios denied groping the patient or making inappropriate remarks, allegations she made to police leading to Turcios' arrest last year.
When asked by Carter during the interview if previous claims had ever been made against him by a patient or dental assistant, Turcios can be heard saying, "I don't want to talk about that anymore."
During Thursday's trial, Carter was called as a witness and testified that Turcios declined to speak to a lawyer and agreed to be interviewed by police without one present.
Check back with ArkansasOnline for updates on this developing story and read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
— John Moritz
EARLIER:
Opening statements began Thursday morning in the trial of a Little Rock dentist accused of molesting a teenage patient before both sides questioned the girl's grandmother, who was the first to hear her complaints.
The prosecution told the 14 assembled jurors that Dr. Jose Turcios was alone with the 15-year-old girl several times March 4, 2015, the day she told police he kissed and groped her while she was sedated with nitrous oxide gas, and that it was not the first time a patient had made such claims.
Turcios' attorney, Little Rock lawyer Bill James, presented a different narrative, arguing that the girl was seeking to end five years of painful braces procedures that she had undergone at Turcios' practice.
Previous claims the jury was set to hear would come from a disgruntled business partner, James said.
The state's first witness was the girl's grandmother, who testified that the girl's complaints began two visits before the March 4 appointment, when the granddaughter said Turcios made her "uncomfortable." On a subsequent visit, the grandmother said she promised to stay with the teen during appointments after the girl complained that Turcios touched her butt.
"If I could go back, I would do things differently, and we wouldn't be here today," the grandmother tearfully told the court.
James argued that the woman's timeline showed the teen's complaints became more serious after the grandmother told her she needed a reason to stop seeing the dentist.
Check back with ArkansasOnline for updates on this developing story and read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
— John Moritz