University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 17, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 29, 1997 Page: 6 of 6
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University Press • Wednesday, October 29,1997 • Page 6
Doctor accused
Stars’plastic surgeon cited for misconduct
LOS ANGELES (AP) —
The plastic surgeon who sculpt-
ed Michael Jackson’s face and
rejuvenated Elizabeth Taylor,
Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller is
accused of disrobing, fondling
and ridiculing anesthetized
patients.
The Medical Board of
California said Monday it is
investigating Dr. Steven
Hoefflin. It received a telephone
complaint in 1996 alleging that
he used drugs and fondled and
photographed patients — many
of them in the entertainment
industry — while they were
under anesthesia.
Hoefflin, 51, arguably
Hollywood’s premier surgeon-
to-the-stars, denied the accusa-
tions and said they stemmed
from infighting between himself
and two former partners, Drs.
James S. Hurvitz, 50, and
Wallace A. Goodstein, 51.
The three have engaged in a
round-robin of allegations.
“I am appalled by these total-
ly false and outrageous state-
ments,” Hoefflin said Monday in
a statement. “This story ... is old
news and represents disgruntled
individuals who in the past cre-
ated false charges to hurt me.”
In an interview, Goodstein
recalled that Hoefflin once “had
a very prominent male star in
the recovery room. He exposed
the guy’s genitals and made
some comments.”
Goodstein said Hoefflin set
to destroy his reputation by call-
ing him mentally unstable and a
drug user in testimony before
the board and by attacking the
liposculpture technique he
developed.
“You’ve got a guy whose suc-
cess corrupted him. He’s a long-
term drug abuser, and he’s got a
character disorder. He’s project-
ing his sickness onto his associ-
ates,” Goodstein said.
Hurvitz declined comment.
“I am aghast,” Miss Diller
said in a telephone interview.
“He’s one of my dearest friends.
I’ve always admired him and his
expertise with the knife.”
The allegations of unprofes-
sional conduct also appear in a
sexual harrassment lawsuit filed
against Hoefflin by four female
employees in 1996. The case was
settled that year and a gag order
was issued, according to the
women’s lawyers.
The Washington Post report-
ed Sunday that Hurvitz supplied
the board with documents in
which the women allege that
Hoefflin pulled the blanket off a
well-known female patient and
spread her legs “in a vulgar
manner.” They claimed that
Hoefflin disrobed a famous
male patient, exposed his geni-
tals, and stated: “You know, he
never used it.” J
One of the plaintiffs, Kim
Moore-Mestas, testified she
observed Hoefflin’s “touching
of patients in a sexual manner.”
The women failed to appear
when subpoenaed earlier this
year to testify about Hoefflin
before the board. A state prose-
cutor, representing the board,
will ask a judge next month to
order t he women to cooperate.
Hoefflin’s office supplied
The Associated Press with a let-
ter signed by anesthesiologists,
Drs. John B. Bornstein and
Martin Gordon, who wrote:
“We have never witnessed any
impropriety or unethical con-
duct of any sort” during a 16-
year association with Hoefflin.
Quote of the day
“Tomorrow do thy worst, for I
have lived today.”
— Horace
“No, I won’t clean your
windshield. But you do get
a free cappuccino."
"There's nothing wrong with
him. I just don’t like him.”
“Actually I’m a home
wrecker. I operate a
“I play just for the sheer joy bulldozer.”
of being grossly overpaid.”
Texas woman defies bail-bond stereotype
CORPUS CHRISTI (AP) —
The thick, French accent is not
meant as a disguise. Neither is the
lipstick, high heels or disarming
smile.
Sophie Miller’s clients may
think she’s a pushover when she
arrives to bail them out of jail.
She certainly does not fit the
image of a cigar-chomping bail
bondsman — she smokes ciga-
rettes and drinks French spring
water. And her briefcase and cell
phone are not the wares of a rifle-
toting bounty hunter. But when
she pulls out the contract that
says she will track down any
client who ignores her rules, there
is no mistaking she means busi-
ness.
“I don’t give a ... what he does,
as long as he shows up in court,”
Miller said to a woman in the
Beeville office of Christina’s Bail
Bonds, who paid $2,000 in cash to
get her brother-in-law out of jail.
“He has nowhere to hide, not
even in his mother’s tummy. I
don’t care if he’s in Mexico or
Europe — I will find him.”
The seedy world of bail bonds-
men has never had a glamorous
side. Even the agents admit they
work with “the scum of the
streets.” The hours are long, the
risks are high, and the “skips”
who fail to show up in court are
not exactly eager to get thrown
back in jail.
“Let me tell you something, a
woman’s going to do a better job
than a man,” Larry Boykin said,
who co-owns Christina’s Bail
Bonds with Crissy Villarreal and
employs twice as many women
agents than men. “When I say
they’re cold-blooded, I mean
they’re cold-blooded.”
In a business that’s often
accused of having no rules, the
women play by their own code of
ethics.
Some will not post bail for peo-
ple accused of sexual assault or
child molestation. They require
the entire cash fee up front — no
waiting for dancers or prostitutes
to make a buck that evening to
pay the next day.
Final rule: no crying on the pay
phone from the county jail.
Villarreal ignored her qualms
about bailing out an accused mur-
der until he started professing his
innocence between sobs. “I said,
‘Wait a minute, you save it for the
judge,”’ Villarreal said. ‘“And if
you keep crying, I’m not even
going to get your ass out.’”
Women have always been
fringe players in the bail bond
business, helping to operate
smaller mom-and-pop opera-
tions. But in the last decade,
they’ve become central figures
and now account for nearly half
of all licensed agents nationwide.
In the 1980s, about 25 percent of
bond agents were female, Gene
Newman, president of the
Professional Bail Agents of the
United States, said.
“It’s steadily been increasing,”
Newman said, who runs an
agency out of Jackson, Miss.
“Women have been in this busi-
ness a long time. They’ve only
recently moved to the front lines
as business owners.”
Christina’s Bail Bonds, with 10
offices covering 22 counties, is
one of a handful of agencies run
by women in Texas. Typical agen-
cies carry names like Freedom
Bail Bonds or Alamo Bail Bonds.
But Christina’s tries to capture
its clients with a different image.
“Most people perceive
‘Christina’ as a beautiful woman,”
Boykin said. The agency is not
even named after Crissy.
Villarreal and Boykin just liked
the sound of it. Apparently, so do
the customers. The 4-year-old
company plans to expand into
East Texas with eight new offices
by next year.
For now, the seven women
who run the South Texas loca-
tions are known as “Christina” to
those clients who request to
speak to her.
The only dose of reality comes
when it’s time to get a signature,
fill out the paperwork and make
sure the client understands he has
to call or show up at the office
every Friday until his final court
appearance.
“When they get out, they think
‘My God, what happened to that
sweet little gal I was talking to
over the phone!”’ Boykin said.
In Texas, about 30 percent of
the state’s 980 licensed agents are
female, Ronnie Hill, president of
the Professional Bail Bond
Agents of Texas, said.
“They probably do a better job
than the men because they’re
more cautious,” Hill said, who
also runs a bail bond agency in
Waco. “That saves you the risk.”
For a non-refundable deposit
— usually 10 or 15 percent — an
agent will arrange bail for a
defendant, guaranteeing his court
appearance. If the defendant
does not show up, it is the agent’s
responsibility to track him down
and bring him back to jail or else
hand over the rest of the bail
amount and court costs.
Because running background
checks is illegal for bail agents,
they rely on body language and a
gut feeling about a potential
client.
If a defendant is slow to give
addresses and phone numbers of
relatives or other information
that may be used later by a boun-
ty hunter, the bail agent could
decide to bounce him right back
into jail.
“You always get a feeling
when something’s iffy,” Carrie
Schmidt, who works out of
Christina’s Corpus Christi office,
said. “I like to talk to other mem-
bers of the family. If they stumble
over their words when I ask them
questions, I won’t do it.”
Call it women’s intuition — the
men and women work at
Christina’s do. And they say the
women have a better track record
for clients showing up for court
dates.
“People think it’s .easy. They
think you get the money and
‘viola,’ but it’s not like that,”'
Miller said, who keeps a record of
outgoing phone calls and uses
caller ID to tell whether her
clients are lying. “When I have a
call, I don’t think ‘cash.’ That’s
the difference between a good
bail bondsman and a bad bail
bondsman.”
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Andris, Tonya. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 17, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 29, 1997, newspaper, October 29, 1997; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500826/m1/6/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.