Getting your player ready...
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — A San Francisco transplant surgeon who was alleged to have hastened the death of a man so his organs could be harvested was acquitted Thursday of dependent-adult abuse.
Dr. Hootan Roozrokh, 34, was found not guilty after a jury deliberated for more than two days. He faced up to four years in prison if convicted. Roozrokh was accused of prescribing too much medication to Ruben Navarro, 26, when he died in February 2006 at a San Luis Obispo hospital. He had a debilitating neurological disease and was in a coma after a heart attack.
Roozrokh testified in his own defense, saying he did not try to hasten Navarro’s death but did order painkillers to ensure the patient would not suffer when taken off life support.
