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May. 21, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Gage says talk with witness not disclosed

Surgeon questioned by prosecutors

By DAVID KIHARA
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Noel Gage
Personal injury lawyer may face new trial on fraud charges

Attorneys for personal injury lawyer Noel Gage said the U.S. attorney's office didn't tell them that they interviewed Mark Kabins, a potential witness in the case, before Gage's trial began.

In federal court documents filed this week, Gage attorney Tom Pitaro said prosecutors questioned Kabins, a Las Vegas surgeon, for several hours on Feb. 16, but "a week of trial passed before the defense received notice of it," the document states.

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    • The trial began on Feb. 19. They argue that prosecutors were obligated to tell the defense about the interview immediately.

    Federal prosecutors stated in a court transcript from Feb. 25 that they informed Gage's defense team of the interview and believed that Kabins' attorneys were working with Gage's team and shared the information.

    Kabins, a Las Vegas surgeon, is at the center of the ongoing Gage saga. Gage's defense team claims Kabins' testimony will contradict a government witness who testified after being granted immunity.

    A federal judge in April told prosecutors to grant Kabins immunity by May 2 or he would dismiss the case against Gage. Federal prosecutors are fighting the judge's order.

    Authorities accuse Gage of conspiring with a network of doctors and lawyers to defraud clients. Federal prosecutors accuse Gage of conspiring with self-proclaimed medical consultant Howard Awand and Las Vegas physicians to inflate medical costs and boost legal settlements while protecting the surgeons from medical malpractice suits.

    U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush ordered a mistrial in April after a jury couldn't reach a verdict.

    Quackenbush filed an order on May 7 postponing Gage's new trial until he decides whether to drop the charges or side with the prosecutors' request not to grant immunity.

    The charges against Gage stem from a case involving Melodie Simon, who suffers from permanent paralysis after she had back surgery at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

    She hired Gage, who told her she probably could settle for $8 million to $12 million, the government alleges. But instead of pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit against the doctors who performed surgery on her, Gage sued anesthesiologist Dan Burkhead and Sunrise Hospital for $2.3 million.

    In exchange for not suing the surgeons, including Kabins, Awand referred a lucrative case to Gage that resulted in an $18 million settlement, the government alleges.



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    WH wrote on May 21, 2008 09:06 AM: Having been at the other endof Gage attempt to brow beat me in court by unethical name calling, (He still lost the case), this has turned into a case of not if Gage is guilty rather a case of which attorney, defense or prosecution, can figure out which one did the most wrong in the case to get a judge to dump it. Having seen Gage in action I have no doubt he is a crook, caniver and dishonest. However, he is banking on the judges having to dump the case(s) on technicalities so he can win another case by using the law as he uses it, to his benefit and his benefit only. Obvioulsy his poor clients don't make out the way he does. 33.3% of the winnings..that is 33.3% of what is left over after he deducts his "working fees" So 1 million winner minus his working fees of about 100 thousand leaves 900K leaves about $600,300.00. This example shows Gage pocketing approx. 400K and the patient 600K. Gage is done and 400K is in the bank. Patient still has dr bills, lack of income, mortgages, etc. Yes he is fair.....to himself. Now throw in a few friends like Awhad and take his cut away and that only decreases the patiens cut even more. Does he care? Hell no!!! He is done with you, his money is in the bank...Next case please...


    Joseph Lochert wrote on May 21, 2008 08:04 AM: Open your eyes,

    Your suggestion seems to be that if I want to know what's going on, I have to go to the court records, because I cannot rely on the LVRJ to report in a meaningful and coherent way. And I agree with that, though I wish I didn't have to.

    Unfortunately, I do not live in Las Vegas and cannot retrieve anything unless it's over the Internet. Is there a public website from which to retrieve documents from this case?


    Open your eyes wrote on May 21, 2008 07:41 AM: Joseph, the case is public record. You can read the case in it's entirety if you desire.


    delray wrote on May 21, 2008 07:33 AM: the judge says give kabins immunity or he will dismiss the case... kabins does not have immunity,, dismiss the case... what are you waiting for judge... sounds like your going to flip flop on your own ruling


    Joseph Lochert wrote on May 21, 2008 05:43 AM: This article is incoherent. Why is the main point that the US Attorneys didn't tell Gage's attorneys about an interview in February? Who cares what happened in February? Why does it even come up now?

    Wait: We learn in the second paragraph that there was a filing this week by Gage's attorney. And, in the sixth paragraph we learn that the Judge ordered the US Attorneys to grant immunity or the case will be dismissed. And in the ninth paragraph we learn that the second trial has been postponed until the judge decides whether he's really going to dismiss the charges.

    Could the filing this week be related to all this? Did the filing attempt to make some point about the February interview in order to address the question whether the case should be dismissed? Is there anything else in that filing that might bear on that issue?

    I guess we'll never know, at least if the LVRJ has anything to say about it.