Local News In Brief : Judge Upsets Guilty Verdict Against Doctor

A Van Nuys judge Thursday overturned a jury’s conviction of a Panorama City physician on one misdemeanor count for administering a drug without a prior examination to an 18-year-old woman.

While convicting Dr. Julian Milestone, a 58-year-old retired general practitioner, the jury also found him not guilty of raping the Van Nuys woman on Sept. 1, 1983 after he injected her with a powerful sedative.

Superior Court Judge Richard G. Kolostian ruled that the jury had been “misinstructed” about the law and that Milestone’s administration of Amytal Sodium to the woman without an exam was not a crime.

Kolostian said any penalty or reprimand for the physician’s activity must come from the California Board of Medical Quality Assurance, the agency charged with monitoring activities of health professionals.