D.A. not ready to file charges against accused Simi doc
By Darleen Principe darleen@theacorn.com

A doctor at Simi Valley Hospital who was arrested on charges of sexual assault was released Tuesday from Ventura County Main Jail on his own recognizance after the district attorney's office said it was not ready to file charges against him.

Dr. Shamim Amini, a 34yearold Moorpark resident, was taken into custody Friday by the Simi Valley Police Department under suspicion of three sex-related crimes he allegedly committed while working as a physician in the hospital's emergency room, according to Sgt. Jeff Dominick, police spokesperson.

Chief Assistant D.A. Jim Ellison told the Simi Valley Acorn on Wednesday that his office was not ready to file charges in the case as the investigation into the doctor's alleged crimes was ongoing.

Amini was ordered to appear back in court Aug. 17.

"Hopefully the investigation will be completed by then, and then we'll be able to make a decision with regards to filing charges," said Ellison, who refused to comment on any details of the case, specific or otherwise.

According to Simi police, Amini's arrest followed a threemonth investigation into claims made by two women who said they were sexually assaulted while in the emergency room.

"It could possibly be that both people had all things done to them, or a combination of them," Dominick said. "It's still under investigation."

Ellison would not comment as to whether or not his office had any prior knowledge of the police department's investigation into Amini.

According to a police report, a 26-year-old Simi Valley woman who was admitted to the emergency room April 20 for a possible hernia alleged that Amini assaulted her during an examination. A 41-year-old Camarillo woman, who went to the emergency room on July 3 after a motorcycle accident, made the second allegation after Amini was already under police investigation.

The names of both women have been withheld.

Hospital officials were not informed of an investigation into one of their emergency room physicians until the morning of Amini's arrest, said Jeremy Brewer, spokesperson for Simi Valley Hospital.

"Police didn't tell (the hospital) who or what the complaint was regarding," Brewer said.

Amini, who provided services on behalf of JJ&R Emergency Medical Group of Marina Del Rey, has been at the hospital since July 2006. Upon his arrest, hospital officials immediately checked patient complaint logs and found that the only issues in the past concerning Amini were in regard to customer service, Brewer said.

"We had nothing of sexual assault," he said.

According to the charges, at least one of the victims was either unconscious or incapable of resisting at the time of the alleged sexual assault. Another deals with penetration by a foreign object.

Amini, whose bail was originally set at $500,000, became eligible Tuesday to be released under no bond after the D.A. did not file charges.

Amini had no prior criminal record, as determined by a background check performed by the hospital during the physician's hiring process.

The background check included the time Amini spent in New York state, where he went to medical school and did his residency at the University Hospital-State University of New York Health Science Center at Syracuse.

Brewer said that the doctor has been removed from the schedule and will not be allowed to practice medicine at the hospital pending further investigation.

The Simi Valley Police Department did not return repeated calls from the Acorn to discuss the D.A.'s decision to release Amini without bail.