Date: November 29, 2011
URL: http://www.necn.com/11/29/11/Scientist-surrender-in-Reno-in-research-/landing_nation.htm
Scientist surrenders in Reno research theft case
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RENO, Nev. (AP) - A top scientist accused of stealing research notes
after her firing from a Nevada medical institute has voluntarily
surrendered to authorities even as she maintains her innocence, her
lawyer said Tuesday. Also, the documents at the center of the dispute
involving chronic fatigue syndrome researcher Judy Mikovits have been
turned over to authorities, attorney Scott Freeman said.
Mikovits is the former lead researcher at the Whittemore Peterson
Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease on the campus of the University of
Nevada, Reno.
She was arrested last week in California and had been ordered to
appear at an extradition hearing Dec. 19. But Freeman said that no
longer is necessary because his client turned herself in at the Washoe
County, Nev., jail Monday and was formally charged with two felony
counts - possession of stolen property and unlawfully taking computer
data and equipment. Mikovits was held briefly and now is free on her
own recognizance, Freeman said. He said he was in discussions Tuesday
with prosecutors about how to proceed with the case and that no court
appearances have been scheduled. "She is maintaining her innocence in
the criminal arena," he said.
The Reno Gazette-Journal first reported in Tuesday's editions that 18
notebooks had been turned over to California authorities. KRNV-TV
first reported Tuesday that Mikovits had turned herself in to
University of Nevada, Reno campus police. Freeman said she actually
surrendered to Washoe County deputies. He confirmed the notebooks had
been returned "because they were requested."
"Consistent with her innocence, we were more than happy to provide
it," he told The Associated Press. He said any delay in producing the
materials ? which Mikovits initially denied having ? stemmed from her
failure to fully understand the workings of the legal system
"Explaining to a scientist how the criminal system works is like a
scientist explaining to us how to cure cancer," Freeman said.
Mikovits made headlines two years ago with research linking chronic
fatigue syndrome to a retrovirus. But the findings since have been
questioned, and subsequent studies have failed to replicate the
results. In addition to the criminal charges, Mikovits faces a civil
suit the institute filed against her in September in Washoe County
District Court.
Annette Whittemore, director of the institute, said institute
officials were reviewing the returned materials to be sure that
everything that was missing was back. She said earlier reports that
the institute may drop its civil lawsuit were mistaken. "The damage to
the Whittemore Peterson Institute is substantial and recent news
coverage indicating that WPI may dismiss its civil case against Dr.
Judy Mikovits is incorrect," Whittemore said in a statement late
Tuesday afternoon.
Mikovits' husband, David Nolde, told the Ventura County Star that he
thought his wife and the institute would settle their dispute out of
court. "It's being worked out between the two sides," he told the
newspaper. "Judy is a committed dedicated scientist known all over the
world. Her only concern is the patients and the science."
Mikovits formerly worked at the National Cancer Institute. Her team at
the institute in Reno announced its discovery in 2009 that people with
chronic fatigue syndrome also were prone to a retrovirus in their
blood called XMRV, opening the possibility of new treatment options.
But in May, the journal that published the findings, Science, ran what
it called an expression of concern about the discovery it said is now
"seriously in question."
Whittemore has said her firing had nothing to do with that
controversy. The institute's lawyers say in documents filed last week
with the Washoe County District Court allege that after Mikovits was
fired, her research assistant removed notebooks and other materials
from the institute on Mikovits' behalf.
The former assistant, Max Pfost, said Mikovits told him that she was
in charge of the research so that technically it belonged to her and
she could transfer it elsewhere at any time. Pfost said he removed
research samples and notebooks Sept. 30 and hid them in a shopping bag
in his mother's garage in Sparks until he gave them to Mikovits on
Oct. 16. Mikovits then went back to California, he said.
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(c) 2011 Associated Press
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