Word Pay

Word Pay

West Side sorry: Thank you for Allie Johnson’s article regarding the West Side community center (“All Wet,” August 8). It is my hope that more awareness will bring solutions to the many problems that are there. Unfortunately, however, the cover illustration headline was very derogatory to Latinos. Why would you use the word “wet” when “wetback” is a very foul name that offends Latinos?

Please be aware of these cultural issues and build up populations with encouraging words, not offensive ones.

Amy Heithoff-Dominguez

Gladstone

Editor’s note: We used “All Wet” as a headline because the story dealt with, among other things, a faulty swimming pool and moisture problems at a poorly built rec center. We apologize to anyone we inadvertently offended.

Strong Medicine

Bedside manners: Regarding Deb Hipp’s “No Contest” (August 1): I have no sympathy for Dr. Louis Culp. Whether or not he had patients who were comfortable with his jokes, it should be obvious to any adult that there will be some women who will be offended by a doctor asking “Did you enjoy that?” after a gynecological exam. And if he can’t control his language and crude humor, someone could easily misinterpret his touch as something equally inappropriate for a doctor.

He was ignorant of the dangerous game he was playing, even though numerous people warned him. I don’t care how old he is or if he is a “product of another time.” He took on certain responsibilities when he became a doctor, and one of those is to make patients feel comfortable and safe, not treat them as if they were pals out at a bar. If he had said something like that to me, I would have taken action against him, too, even without inappropriate touching.

Kerath G. Daddow

Kansas City, Missouri

Out with the old: We are told that “history repeats itself.” Our present-day society seems to be reverting to colonial days when they burned witches at the stake. This octogenarian is both saddened and irate over the miscarriage of justice laid on Dr. Culp.

Granted, his “bedside manner” may have been inappropriate, including his failure to have a female attendant during the examination. But rape? At our age, it’s like stuffing marshmallows in a piggy bank. The prosecutorial game is to enhance their “scoreboard” and win! Win! Win! Justice be damned! Culp’s lawyers must have been on a mental vacation. Are there no appeals? Culp was screwed, blued and tattooed!

Dr. Culp, you are in our prayers. In essence, Dr. Louis Culp has been handed a death sentence. A curse on those who put him there!

Name Withheld Upon Request

Trial and error: Deb Hipp’s article unfairly criticized Carl Cornwell, Dr. Culp’s attorney. I am a fellow defense attorney and have known Mr. Cornwell for many years.

Hipp seemed to strive to make everyone responsible for Culp’s fate except Culp. Assuming Culp had no criminal history, one count of rape in Kansas would give him a sentence of 117 months in prison. For the court to give Culp probation, it would have had to hear compelling reasons why he should get a sentence different from the sentence any other man would get. The plea agreement Cornwell negotiated removed that legal obstacle to probation. With the charges reduced to aggravated sexual battery, the court could have given Culp probation based upon his amenability to reformation and the availability of a treatment program. This was a perfectly logical tactic designed to keep the doctor out of prison. The article makes it clear that Culp did not cooperate with this strategy.

In addition, Hipp insinuated that Cornwell’s fee was somehow inappropriate when considering the amount of work done. Attorneys are not fungible goods. When you hire an attorney, you are not paying only for his hourly fee. You are paying for the use of his reputation, knowledge and skill. These are things that can take years to develop. You are also paying for the fact that your defense attorney has to deal with weighty issues that are tantamount to life and death. You cannot judge the reasonableness of an attorney’s fee by simply comparing dollars to hours.

All that said, I do not believe that Culp should be incarcerated. I am sure he deserved mercy. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to ask for mercy. And if he did not want mercy, he should have insisted on a trial by a jury of his peers.

Bob L. Thomas

Olathe