Tag: Mark Dean

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In brief: FOIA troubles, doctor found guilty, and more

Getting the city to divulge how much it’s paid to settle police misconduct claims over the past several years has been difficult. Photo: Eze Amos

Fogel FOIA response from city

How much has the City of Char­lottesville paid out in settlements for claims of police misconduct? That’s what attorney Jeff Fogel hoped to learn when he filed a FOIA request on behalf of the People’s Coalition two weeks ago, asking for any responsive records for the past two years. The city’s response to the request: dozens of pages of emails between officials and attorneys, with almost all of the content redacted.

“I don’t know anything more than I knew before,” says Fogel, who has now filed a second FOIA request with the city, expanding the information he’s seeking to include settlements for police misconduct paid on behalf of the city between 2017 and 2019.

Like most Virginia municipalities, Charlottesville is insured by the Virginia Risk Sharing Association, which pays out settlements from a pool of funds. 

Fogel says city representatives have previously told him they don’t know how much settlement money has been paid as a result of claims of police misconduct. He suggests that ignorance represents a deliberate effort by city officials to avoid having to disclose the information through FOIA. 

City attorney Lisa Robertson did not respond to C-VILLE Weekly’s request for comment.

The city’s response to Fogel’s FOIA about police misconduct settlements does shed light on another legal action against the city: a free speech lawsuit filed by former city manager Tarron Richardson, who alleged he was wrongfully terminated in 2020, and publicly disparaged by members of City Council in violation of a nondisparagement agreement. Richardson eventually dropped the lawsuit, and no information about any settlement has ever been made public. The documents in the city’s response to Fogel’s FOIA request include multiple emails identified in the subject line as “settlement negotiations” in Richardson’s case. 

Fogel says if his latest FOIA request results in no information about settlements in police misconduct cases, he plans to file suit against the city seeking the information.

World of pain

An Albemarle County pain doctor charged with sexually assaulting female patients between 2011 and 2017 has been found guilty in the first of multiple scheduled trials. According to The Daily Progress, it took a jury two-and-a-half hours to reach a verdict on Friday, April 1, at the conclusion of Mark Dean’s five-day trial in Albemarle County Circuit Court.  

Pain doc Mark Dean was found guilty of sexually assaulting a female patient. 
File photo.

The victim, identified in the trial by her initials, accused Dean of inserting his fingers into her vagina without her consent at an appointment in 2017. A second patient testified that she’d had a similar experience during an appointment with Dean. Defense attorneys sought to undermine the victim’s claims by noting she returned to Dean’s office for additional appointments after the assault and didn’t report it for several years. Expert witnesses, however, testified that is not unusual for victims. 

Dean will be sentenced on August 31, and faces a minimum of five years to life in prison. His next trial is scheduled for June.

In brief

Boost up

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a second coronavirus booster shot for immunocompromised individuals ages 12 and older, and adults 50 and older. These groups are eligible to get the Pfizer or Moderna shot at least four months after their most recent booster. Appointments can be made on VaccineFinder.org. 

Price cut

Senator Tim Kaine has co-sponsored legislation that could drastically reduce the price of insulin across the country. Introduced by Senator Raphael Warnock, the Affordable Insulin Now Act would require both Medicare and private health insurance plans to cap out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 per month. The cost of the life-saving medication has skyrocketed—diabetics currently spend around $6,000 a year on insulin, according to the Health Care Cost Institute.

Tim Kaine.
Photo: Gage Skidmore

In reverse

Last spring, the University of Richmond’s board of trustees refused to rename campus buildings with white supremacists’ names on them, sparking student and faculty protests. But last week, the swanky private school reversed its controversial decision: It renamed six buildings, including Ryland Hall—named for the school’s first president Reverend Robert Ryland, who enslaved more than two dozen people—and Mitchell-Freeman Hall—partially named for 19th-century trustee Douglas Southall Freeman, who supported eugenics and segregation. In recent years, the University of Virginia has also stripped the names of racists from several academic buildings—but has yet to rename Alderman Library, named for the school’s first president and eugenicist Edwin Alderman.

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Testimony/cross-examination questioned in rape cases

Mark Hormuz Dean. Courtesy county police

An Albemarle County physician facing 11 charges related to sexually assaulting 10 female patients was in court February 19 for a motions hearing.

Mark Hormuz Dean will be tried on multiple counts of rape, object sexual penetration, aggravated sexual battery, sexual battery, forcible sodomy, and abduction, all from his time as a doctor of osteopathic medicine at the Pantops-based Albemarle Pain Management Associates Clinic.

He’ll be tried separately for each victim’s accusations, with the first jury trial scheduled for April. At Dean’s most recent hearing, defense attorney Rhonda Quagliana expressed concern that her client won’t have a fair trial if the victim’s testimony at that trial alludes to other victims in the case.

The defense implied that the accuser will likely say she decided to come forward after hearing about Dean’s January 2018 indictment, and if she does, the jury will know there are multiple accusers, said Quagliana.

Prosecutor Darby Lowe said she didn’t intend to question the victim about any other cases, and Judge Humes Franklin said he will allow her to ask why the victim chose to speak out.

Quagliana also said she should have the right to cross-examine the victim, ask why she waited a year to file a police report, and inquire about her mental health history, prior complaints, and the civil suit she has also filed against Dean “to get money,” as the attorney put it.

The judge said he will limit the cross-examination on a case-by-case basis to ensure its relevance. Another motions hearing is scheduled for March 8.

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In brief: Salamander sightings, Halsey Minor sighting, basketball team sightings and more

Game Day at UVA. Photo Ryan Jones

We’re No. 1

Despite Saturday’s overtime loss at JPJ to Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia men’s basketball team was ranked No. 1 in Monday’s Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in more than 35 years. The Hoos (23-2) also became the first ACC team to make it to No. 1 after starting the season unranked (not to mention having been predicted to finish sixth in the ACC).

Clean Virginia

Dominion Energy is coming under fire with legislation and a new PAC that donates to legislators who forego contributions from the electric monopoly. Clean Virginia Project, chaired by local investor Michael Bills, will contribute to delegates and senators in the General Assembly who eschew Dominion donations. Former congressman Tom Perriello has joined the effort.

“I don’t think you can understand the country today if you don’t understand the legacies of slavery and how they have shaped our understanding of rights, freedoms and opportunities.”—Montpelier President & CEO Kat Imhoff

Tinsley takes a break

Dave Matthews Band violinist Boyd Tinsley announced he would not be joining the band on its 2018 tour, tweeting that he was “worn out” and needed to spend more time with his family.

Halsey’s crypto utopia

UVA alum/CNET founder Halsey Minor, the man who left downtown Charlottesville with the Landmark eyesore, is now casting his magic in Puerto Rico, where he’s part of a migration of blockchain and bitcoin entrepreneurs flocking to the hurricane-ravaged island to avoid taxes and create a society based on cryptocurrency, the New York Times reports.

More charges

A judge certified eight additional charges against Mark Hormuz Dean, an Albemarle Pain Management Associates physician, who was arrested January 5 on two counts of rape, two counts of object sexual penetration and one count of forcible sodomy for allegedly assaulting patients between 2011 and 2015.

Cross watch

Photo Devin Floyd

Why did the salamander cross the road? Ah, this one’s easy: To get to the other side. It takes a warm, wet winter night for more than 1,000 spotted salamanders to start their 100-yard migration, crossing Rio Mills and Polo Grounds roads from their forested homes to their vernal pool breeding grounds.

Because navigating across the busy roads often ends badly for the local yellow polka-dotted amphibians, they no longer have to do it alone. Each year, a team of dozens of community members are on standby, waiting for Devin Floyd, founder of the Center for Urban Habitats and Blue Ridge Discovery Center in Charlottesville, to send out an alert that the critters are on their way.

This year’s migration started the night of February 10, and regular salamander rescuer and Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Chair Ann Mallek was there to help by picking up 10 of 46 amphibians on the side of Rio Mills and hand-delivering them across Polo Grounds Road.

“They were cold and slow until they rested on our hands, then quickly warmed up for their last sprint to the vernal pools,” she says.

But they’re not done yet—Mallek urges drivers to keep an eye out for any salamander stragglers when passing through the area until migration stops around mid-March.

February 10 salamander stats:

  • 46 salamanders
  • 3 critter casualties
  • 33 human volunteers

Real estate rising

Local assessments have been mailed and residential and commercial real estate is still going up. The increases, however, are a far cry from last year’s city commercial assessments, which saw an average 29 percent increase but soared to 50 percent or more in some cases.

6.7%

Residential increase in Charlottesville

2.5%

Residential increase in Albemarle’s urban ring

1.4%

County commercial increase

2.6%

City commercial increase

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Doctor’s orders: Physician makes bond, put on house arrest

Mark Hormuz Dean. Courtesy county police

 

The Pantops-area doctor arrested last Friday on five felonies related to allegedly raping and sexually assaulting his patients will be released from jail on a $50,000 bond.

A mass of friends and family showed in support of Mark Hormuz Dean, the Albemarle Pain Management Associates Clinic physician, and sat shoulder to shoulder in the crowded courtroom.

Several witnesses, including Dean’s father-in-law and a friend who also was a patient, testified about the character of the man who has been indicted on two counts of rape, two counts of object sexual penetration and one count of forcible sodomy.

Since his January 5 arrest, prosecutor Darby Lowe said five additional victims have come forward.

“When he’s not working, he’s constantly with his children,” said Peter Pellechia, the father of Dean’s wife and a retired NYPD homicide investigator. “He takes them and they go fishing.”

Dean is married to Stacy Pellechia Dean, an adjunct instructor at UVA’s Curry School of Education, and the couple lives in an Ednam Forest with two kids who are 15 and 13 years old, according to Pellechia’s testimony. The Deans purchased the house last year for $1.35 million, according to county property records.

Derrick Stone, the director of software development for the UVA Health System, told the judge that Dean often brings his children to Stone’s home for spiritual education classes on the religion they both share, called Baha’i, which teaches the unity of all people and the worth of all religions.

Stone, like the other witnesses who testified, said he was shocked to learn of the allegations against Dean.

“I can’t believe it,” he said. “I immediately reached out to see how I could help.”

The doctor was granted a $50,000 bond on the condition that he wears an ankle monitor, doesn’t leave his home and has no contact with his patients or staff.

Though the prosecutor argued that Dean has family in Florida and is considered a flight risk, defense attorney Rhonda Quagliana reminded the judge that several witnesses noted the doctor’s commitment to his family.

“People generally don’t just pick up and abandon a wife and kids,” she said.

 

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In brief: Bad prank, bad parking, bad practices and more

Staff photo

Meter’s not running

Crews are set to start ripping meters out of the ground this week after City Council voted at its January 2 meeting to indefinitely suspend the parking meter pilot that began on streets surrounding the Downtown Mall in September.

“It seemed pointless to try to convince the manufacturer to continue to loan us this equipment,” says parking manager Rick Siebert, who was initially hired to implement the program. “We obviously didn’t want to pay rent with no revenue coming in.”

With no reimplementation date in sight, Siebert says he’s disappointed that the city seems to have permanently pumped the brakes on the pilot, and he’ll continue to work toward a solution to Charlottesville’s well-documented parking problem.

“We had some issues with parking before that led to hiring Nelson\Nygaard to do the study, which led to the initiation of the meter pilot,” he says. “Those issues haven’t just evaporated.”

By the numbers

  • 28 meters
  • 13 pay stations
  • 71 days in service
  • $51,490 generated in revenue
  • $42,995 paid in rent
  • $20,000 for a 2016 parking meter pilot implementation plan by Nelson\Nygaard
  • $500,000 for startup funds allocated by City Council in 2016 for personnel and initial equipment costs, including a $73,000 salary for hiring a parking manager

“Voting is the civic sacrament of democracy.”—James Alcorn, chair of Virginia Board of Elections, before a random drawing to determine the winner of House District 94 and control of the House of Delegates

Not funny

A teen hoaxer who on social media advised Monticello High students to not go to school January 8 underneath a photo of guns was charged with a Class 5 felony for making threats to harm people on school property. The post alarmed other schools around the country with MHS initials, and at least one in Pennsylvania canceled classes.

Malpractice

Mark Hormuz Dean. Photo Albemarle County Police

Police arrested Mark Hormuz Dean, 50, a physician at the Albemarle Pain Management Associates Clinic, on January 5 for two counts of rape, two counts of object sexual penetration and one count of forcible sodomy, which he has allegedly committed on the job since 2011. Dean has worked in pain management in Charlottesville since 2003, and performed more than 10,000 interventional pain procedures, according to the clinic’s website.

 

 

It’s about time

At the January 4 Board of Supervisors meeting, Governor Terry McAuliffe signed a 99-year lease that gives Albemarle County control of the 1,200-acre Biscuit Run Park, which the state has owned since 2010 and agreed to help open to the public.

Town crier

Photo Eze Amos

Christopher Cantwell has filed a lawsuit against anti-racist activists Emily Gorcenski and Kristopher Goad, who accused the “Crying Nazi” of spraying them with a caustic substance at UVA on August 11. Cantwell’s complaint claims the activists “framed” him in the alleged attack by spraying themselves with mace.

 

 

 

 

New county leadership

File photo

While perhaps not as monumental as Charlottesville’s election of its first African-American female mayor, Albemarle County’s Board of Supervisors has also picked new leaders. Ann Mallek has been named chair for the fifth nonconsecutive year and Norman Dill will serve as vice chair.

 

 

 

Trial date set

A three-week jury trial is scheduled to begin November 26 for James Alex Fields, the man who plowed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters on August 12. Fields is charged with first-degree murder, five counts of malicious wounding, three counts of aggravated malicious wounding and failing to stop at the scene of a crash.

 

 

 

Another missing person found dead

Three days after missing woman Molly Meghan Miller was found dead in her home on January 1, police found Arthur Mills, the Fluvanna County man who was reported missing January 3, dead on the side of Oliver Creek Road. His cause of death is unknown.

 

Downtown loses some sparkle

Submitted photo

Frances Gibson Loose, longtime owner of Tuel Jewelers, died January 5 at age 86. For 65 years, she showed up for work, always professionally dressed, until about a week before she passed away.

When Loose bought the store in 1975, she was the only female business owner downtown, and according to her daughter, Mary Loose DeViney, she told another woman in a male-dominated field, “I’m going to do it my way and you will, too.”

She was a member of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce, which named her Small Business Person of the Year in 2009.

Loose was well-known and well-liked and was often called “Mom” by her many friends, says DeViney. “She extended credit to people that others wouldn’t have—and they paid her. She just believed in people.”

People from all walks of life came to the store just to talk to Loose. “I’ve got to talk to Momma,” DeViney heard regularly. “I shared my mom with all kinds of people.”