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Source: The Bakersfield CalifornianNov.self storage 10--LOS ANGELES -- The case against a Bakersfield dentist accused of dental negligence closed Friday afternoon with plans to pick up with the dentist's side of the story in July.The Dental Board of California, which filed an accusation against Dr. Robert Tupac via the state Attorney General's office, is seeking to suspend or revoke his license.Last week, the hearing was held only on Tuesday and Friday, and dental board investigator Stephen Nicas and expert witness Dr. Victor Pineschi gave testimonies that leapfrogged through smaller details of the case.Their testimony was less gripping than the accounts of allegedly botched dental work offered by the prior week's witnesses.In the last week of October, five dentists lampooned Tupac's work, saying he failed to appropriately plan for the treatment of two patients and negligently treated them.At the close of the case against Tupac, his attorney, Jason Friedman, said in a written statement to The Californian that aside from the dental board's expert, "the balance of the criticism" against Tupac came from his past and current competitors in the "Bakersfield dental community."A current Bakersfield prosthodontist and a retired periodontist who practiced in Bakersfield both testified the week of Oct. 27 that Tupac's work was substandard and that he has a poor reputation in the community. Two Southern California dentists -- Dr. Dennis Smiler and Dr. Marvin Waldman -- who treated patient Sheila Rios after Tupac also testified against him."The critics of Dr. Tupac have essentially made his case for him, which will be spelled out when the case resumes next year," Friedman wrote.Earlier this year, former Tupac patients Rios and Rick Lawhon testified to the problems they had with Tupac's work. A former employee of Tupac's testified that she did work outside the boundaries of her license as a dental assistant when she worked for him, including removing an implant. Bakersfield dentist Robert Reed, who filed a complaint with the dental board raising concerns with Tupac's treatment, also spoke at the hearing.Stefanie Meier, another of Tupac's former dental assistants, defended him and the quality of his work.On Tuesday, Nicas, who has worked for the dental board since 2000, testified that he was assigned to investigate Rios and Lawhon's complaints. Nicas explained how he interviewed former Tupac employee Deidre Williams, subpoenaed Tupac's records for several patients, including Rios, and repeatedly tried to interview Meier -- to no avail. He testified that "not many" dentis迷你倉s file complaints against their colleagues.The hearing resumed Friday with Friedman continuing his cross-examination of Pineschi, the expert witness who reviewed the two patients' cases for the dental board. Pineschi had testified on Oct. 30 to numerous problems he found in his review of Tupac's treatment of Rios and Lawhon.Picking up his cross-examination, Friedman questioned Pineschi about his reports to the dental board and other details of the case. Friedman pressed Pineschi about his experience with implants, his assessment of the treatment plans of a dentist who saw Rios before Tupac took out all her teeth, and his conclusion that Tupac's records appeared to be altered.After Pineschi was excused, Administrative Law Judge Julie Cabos-Owen heard arguments from Friedman and Malek about a motion by Malek to quash Friedman's subpoena for Rios' patient records from Mirelez Wellness Dental. Fresno dentist Jose Arthur Mirelez Jr. treated Rios after Smiler and Waldman, according to testimony in the hearing.Last week, Friedman brought up that some of Smiler and Waldman's work -- which included bone grafting and implants -- on Rios had also failed.Malek protested Friedman's pursuit of the records, though the judge pointed out that Rios gave permission in January for the release of her records at that point. Malek said Rios is not willing to do that again. Malek argued that discovery in the case is already closed.Friedman said the request is for exculpatory evidence, meaning it could clear Tupac, and pointed to a theory that Rios has an underlying problem.In a letter to Malek regarding his subpoena, Friedman wrote that Tupac's position from the start of the case has been that Rios' bone loss was due to a "biological failure.""Dr. Mirelez' records may shed some light on this issue," he wrote.Friedman's letter said the only offer to settle the case has been the revocation of Tupac's license."This is a death penalty case," Friedman said at the hearing Friday.Malek countered that his characterization is inappropriate because Tupac could reapply for his license after several years if he were to lose it.The judge said she will issue a written decision on the motion, probably next week.The attorneys and judge tentatively planned to continue the hearing in July 2014 because it was the judge's soonest available opening and planned that it will last about two weeks.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Bakersfield Californian (Bakersfield, Calif.) 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