FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CRM
APRIL 14, 1998
(202) 514-2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
TDD (202) 514-1888

PRESS RELEASE - INFORMATION AND PLEA AGREEMENT

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The United States Department of

Justice announced today that Barbara Ann Battalino,
52, of Los Osos, California, has pleaded guilty to an
information charging her with one count of
obstruction of justice.

Battalino served as a staff psychiatrist at the

Veterans Administration Medical Center in Boise,
Idaho from February 1991 to October 1991. She was
assigned to the VA's psychiatric in-patient and out-
patient units where she provided treatment to the
hospital's patients who, in most cases, were combat
veterans. In May 1991, Battalino was assigned a
patient named Edward Arthur, a U.S. Army veteran of
the Vietnam War, who sought treatment for Post-
Traumatic Stress Disorder, a condition from which he
suffered as a result of over four years of combat.

On October 31, 1992, Arthur sued Battalino and the VA

in U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho,
alleging that Battalino committed medical malpractice
when she engaged in sexual relations with him during
an office visit on June 27, 1991. Battalino
requested, through the United States Attorney for the
District of Idaho, that the United States "certify"
her under the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"). The
FTCA provides that the United States will substitute
itself as a defendant in a tort suit brought against
a federal employee when the alleged tortious conduct
occurred within the scope of the defendant's federal
employment. If a defendant is granted full
substitution, or "certification," she would not be
liable for damages.

In December 1992, attorneys from the United States

Attorney's Office interviewed Battalino about
Arthur's allegations. She denied to them that she had
engaged in sexual relations with Arthur in her office
on June 27, 1991. Based on her denial, the United
States Attorney decided to certify Battalino for her
conduct through June 27, 1991, the date of the
alleged office incident, but not thereafter. To the
extent that Battalino was certified, she would not
have been liable for damages to Arthur.

On July 13-14, 1995, Chief Magistrate Judge Mikel

Williams conducted a hearing to determine the scope
of Battalino's employment at the VA. During the
hearing she testified falsely under oath about what
had happened between Arthur and her during his visit
on June 27, 1991. In so doing, she violated the
obstruction of justice statute, Title 18, United
States Code, Section 1503. She is scheduled to be
sentenced on July 20, 1998 at 9:30 A.M. before the
Honorable Edward J. Lodge.

This case is being prosecuted by Jonathan Mitchell,

Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice. It was
investigated by Special Agent Thomas Summers of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.

For further information please contact John Russell,

U.S. Department of Justice, (202)514-2008.

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