Jurors say Utahn Cecil Jacobson may have had good motives but the evidence was overwhelming that he created bogus pregnancies to fool some patients and lied to others when he used his own sperm to father up to 75 of their children.
"We knew he was lying to those patients," jury foreman Dan Richard told reporters after the jury convicted Jacobson Wednesday on all 52 fraud and perjury counts - which could bring a prison term of 280 years and a fine of $500,000."But I don't think he did it for money. The prices he charged were too low," Richard said. "I think he was trying to prove his theories (about infertility) and used these women to do it."
Richard's comment was among the swirl of reactions that the verdict stirred, including "shock" by Jacobson, who insists he is innocent; relief of former patients who testified against him; gratitude by prosecutors; and hints of an appeal from Jacobson's attorneys.
Jurors said they came close to causing a much different reaction because at one point near the end of their 3 1/2 days of deliberations, they almost sent a note to the judge saying they were deadlocked in a hung jury.
"I personally believed Dr. Jacobson was not guilty during the first three days" of deliberation, Richard said. Juror Ronald E. Mattingly said that almost brought a declaration of deadlock.
But Richard said, "What made me change my mind was that after Jacobson found that . . . (one patient) was actually pregnant, he altered his standard practice for her. He didn't give her any more sonograms. He gave the others sonograms every week," a practice that prosecutors said was to reinforce the illusion of pregnancy.
Richard added that Jacobson, who pioneered the use of amniocentesis tests in America, "routinely used sonograms to put a needle into the uterus without hitting the baby. So how could he have misread all those sonograms of his pa-tients?"
Other doctors had testified that many sonograms that Jacobson told patients showed fetuses sucking their thumbs or moving arms and legs actually pictured only empty uteruses and human waste. Jacobson acknowledged misreading some sonograms.
While prosecutors argued Jacobson committed fraud to make up for amniocentesis business that fell by two-thirds when other doctors started routinely performing the test, jurors said they believed Jacobson had other reasons.
"He pioneered amniocentesis. He had this other theory that certain hormones could create or sustain pregnancy and was using these women to help prove it," Richard said.
He likened Jacobson to "a conductor on a train. Some women who became pregnant got off the train when they had babies. But he lied to keep others on the train and kept them there for his own purposes."
Juror Mattingly added, "He couldn't stop. He was trying something that didn't work. And when he realized it didn't work, he didn't stop."
He added, "The ladies who didn't get pregnant lost. He lost. No one won in this case."
"I think that he was a good man," juror Deborah Earman told reporters. "It was obvious that he went wrong somewhere and mistreated a lot of women. He definitely did some wrong."
While the jury wrestled long with the bogus pregnancy charges - saying they meticulously reconstructed the history of each patient from their hundreds of notes - they said they had an easy time deciding Jacobson was guilty on charges of lying about using his own sperm.
"That was not a hard decision because of the tests that showed with 99.99 percent he had fathered 15 children and because of his own admission in court that he was a donor," Richard said.
While a doctor using his own semen is not against federal law, prosecutors said he lied to patients and committed fraud when he falsely promised the donor would never know the patients or falsely promised on occasion that donors would be tall, thin or Jewish.
Jacobson was charged with wire, mail and travel fraud for using telephones and the mail in his deception and causing patients to travel across state lines. He was charged with perjury for lying about his practices under oath when earlier sued for malpractice.
Jacobson - who showed no emotion at the verdict and calmly talked to reporters afterward - insisted he had done nothing wrong.
"I am shocked. I really am," he said. "I spent my life trying to help women have children. . . . It's a shock to be found guilty of trying to help people. . . . If I felt I was breaking any law, I never would have done it."
He added he had no regrets about his medical practice. "The one thing that has sustained us through all this is the mothers who have thanked us for the babies they had."
But former patient Jean Blair - who testified against Jacobson, saying he falsely told her she was pregnant six times, including once with twins - said, "He will never know the emotional roller coaster he put us on. We mourned every one of those babies."
She later had two children - after she left Jacobson's care. "You hate to see anyone go to jail, but Cecil Jacobson deserves it."
Prosecutor Randy Bellows thanked the numerous witnesses who came forward to testify against Jacobson despite worry their children could discover he was their biological father. "It took a tremendous amount of courage on their part," he said.
Jacobson's attorney James Tate hinted that an appeal is likely soon. When asked about that possibility, he said, "If you were to guess that, it would probably be a pretty good guess."
Sentencing has been set for May 8. Jacobson is free on bond until then but was required to surrender his passport.
Also, the court ordered that Jacobson and a family trust called Jacobson Ziff not be allowed to make any expenditures greater than $2,000 without notifying the court to ensure money is available to pay possible fines or restitution.
Jacobson is a native Utahn who returned to Provo after closing his northern Virginia genetics practice in 1988 after surrendering his medical license for negligence. He has conducted privately funded research there since.