Colorado Doctor Who Choked Nurse Met With Jail Time, Claims He Just 'Blacked Out'

A former Colorado doctor was sentenced to 30 days in jail for choking a nurse who, reportedly, tried to prevent him from turning off vital-signs devices because of the loud noise they were making. Mark Randle Ryan, 58, admitted assaulting Beth Duche, a 51-year-old nurse at a Lone Tree medical center, in full view of patients in October 2018. However, he claimed he had “blacked out.”

Equally Shocked By The Attack

During his sentencing hearing Monday (June 22), the former doctor said that all he could sense was his hands were around a jaw at the time, adding he could feel a throat and soft tissues. “I did not know what was going on. I remember separating my hands away from the throat,” he told the court.

Ryan’s lawyer, Lisa Moses, tried to get her client out of jail time, claiming he was equally shocked by the attack, CBS4 reports.

Duche, however, asked the judge to hand down a 90-day prison term to the former anesthesiologist. “I was assaulted by a man who took an oath to do no harm. I feel he might have killed me if no one else would have been around,” Duche told Douglas County District Judge Theresa Slade, per The Denver Post, addressing the court during the sentencing hearing.

Pain And Stars

The assault, reportedly, took place inside the room of a patient at a Lone Tree hospital. Ryan was working in the facility as a contracted anesthesiologist at the time. The recovery room’s nurse-in-charge and Ryan engaged in an argument about the latter shutting down the vital-sign machines of patients recovering from surgery.

According to the complaint filed by Duche, the former doctor then grabbed her by the throat and squeezed her neck painfully to the point that she was already seeing stars. The nurse immediately contacted Lone Tree police officers to report the incident.

A Guilty Plea

Ryan entered a guilty plea to second-degree assault by strangulation. He was handed down a 30-day sentence in a county jail that will start Thursday. Judge Slade also gave him three years of deferred judgment and probation, as well as anger management classes and mental health treatment. The former anesthesiologist also has to perform at least 100 hours of community service, according to CBS4.

Reports say that the former doctor had earlier relinquished his medical license. During the sentencing, the judge sternly admonished the former medical professional. “You absolutely put other patients at risk. You don’t get to act this way, ever,” Judge Slade said.