DALLAS — Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz, the Dallas anesthesiologist accused of poisoning IV bags at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas, has been found guilty on all 10 counts in his federal trial in Dallas.
A jury rendered the verdict at 1 p.m. Friday. Jurors had deliberated for about five hours Thursday before adjourning and returning to deliberations at 9 a.m. Friday.
Ortiz was convicted on five counts of tampering with consumer products and five counts of adulterating a drug.
Ortiz, who will be sentenced at a later date, now faces up to life in prison.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys rested their case Wednesday. Ortiz did not take the stand in his own defense.
Prosecutors alleged the tainted IV bags resulted in several patients’ medical emergencies and the death of a fellow anesthesiologist, Melanie Kaspar who took an IV bag home to hydrate herself. The trial included testimony from the anesthesiologist’s widower and some of Ortiz’s alleged victims.
Dr. Bobbie Jean Sweitzer, who testified as a witness in Ortiz’s defense, presented alternative explanations for what may have caused the patients’ medical episodes. Specifically, she testified that she believed doctors administered medicine to patients incorrectly in several of the cases and several patients had pre-existing conditions that could have contributed to the medical episodes.
Melanie Kaspar's widower, John Kaspar sat in the courtroom every single day.
"It’s become my life now, so I’ve got to see this through," he told WFAA immediately after the guilty verdict came down.
Kaspar said the verdict is justice, but it doesn't take away his pain.
"There’s no closure," he cried. "My best friend is gone."'
Ortiz's cousin, Luis Ortiz, was also in the courtroom and told reporters he doesn't believe his cousin did any of the crimes he's convicted of.
"He doesn’t have that spirit of discernment that they showed him, not by a longshot," Luis told WFAA.
WFAA spoke with three jurors before they left the courthouse.
"[This case] kind of [makes you question] if you want to go to the doctor yourself," juror Dominique Alcantar said.
Jurors Penny Rotenberry and Madison Lee said they were never close to an acquittal but spent two days deliberating and reviewing evidence carefully to be sure.
"We did our best job and that’s why it took us so long to go through and make sure we could do what we did to give him a fair trial but at the end of the day we were all on the same page," Lee said.
In a video statement posted on twitter Friday, U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton said, "Dr. Ortiz cloaked himself in the white coat of a healer, but instead of curing pain, he inflicted it."
Ortiz's defense attorneys declined to comment.
Chief District Judge David Godbey is expected to deliver Ortiz's exact sentencing in the coming months. He faces up to 190 years in prison.
WFAA trial coverage:
- Fingerprints and hallway surveillance video: Day 1 recap of the trial for the Dallas doctor accused of poisoning patients with tampered IV bags
- Punctured IV bags and emotional witness testimony: Day 2 of Dallas anesthesiologist Raynaldo Ortiz's trial
- 'I thought I was going to die:' Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz's alleged victims take the stand in day 3 of the Dallas anesthesiologist's trial
- 'Someone was putting epinephrine in an IV bag:' Day 4 of the trial against the Dallas anesthesiologist accused of poisoning patients
- Trial for the Dallas anesthesiologist accused of poisoning patients with tainted IV bags to resume Tuesday
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