Prosecutor errors cited in doctor's trial

MIAMI, March 3 (UPI) -- A Miami defense attorney says charges against a doctor accused of peddling prescription drugs should be dismissed because of prosecutors' misconduct.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Miami has admitted it "made a mistake" in encouraging its confidential informants in the drug case against Dr. Ali Shaygan to secretly record their conversations with Shaygan's defense attorney, David Markus.

Markus found out about the recordings only during the cross-examination of a witness in the 3-week-old trial, and Monday filed a motion in U.S. District Court to have the charges against Shaygan dismissed because of prosecutorial misconduct, The Miami Herald reported.

"Dr. Shaygan respectfully submits that the government's conduct in this case is so outrageous and was undertaken with such flagrant disregard for Dr. Shaygan's constitutional rights that dismissal is the appropriate remedy," Markus wrote in a motion filed Monday.

"We regret the policy was not followed," U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta told the Herald, indicating the matter was referred to the Office of Professional Responsibility. "We deeply regret it. There is no evidence that Markus … acted improperly," Acosta added.