CENTENNIAL, Colo. (KDVR) — Opening statements in the negligent homicide trial against a Greenwood Village plastic surgeon took place Tuesday afternoon at the Arapahoe County district courthouse.
Dr. Geoffrey Kim faces charges of reckless manslaughter, negligent homicide and obstructing telephone services.
Kim was scheduled to perform breast enhancement surgery on 18-year-old Emmalyn Nguyen on Aug. 1, 2019.
Instead, the teenager slipped into a coma and never regained consciousness. She died at a nursing home 14 months later, in October 2020, at the age of 19.
Kim is accused of refusing his staff’s request to call 911 for more than five hours after Nguyen failed to regain consciousness.
The star witness against Kim is expected to be nurse anesthetist Rex Meeker.
Meeker was originally charged with manslaughter in February 2022 for “recklessly causing the death of Nguyen from similar allegations plus, failing to properly observe her after administering anesthesia and failing to recognize she was not breathing for 15 minutes,” according to documents.
Prosecutors dropped the charges against Meeker last September in exchange for his cooperation to testify against Kim.
Meeker is expected to testify later this week. The trial is expected to last through the middle of next week.
Kim and Meeker were ordered to pay $1 million each to Nguyen’s family in a wrongful death lawsuit settlement.