Convict gets new hearing after judge agrees with remarks in confession

Commentary by Kay B. Day

Irfan Nawaz worked as a doctor at St. Luke's Hospital and Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. Nawaz was convicted of soliciting a child via computer and traveling to meet a minor to engage in sexual acts. [Photo from Florida Dept. of Corrections]Courts are not known for their wisdom, and the case of Irfan Nawaz is a perfect example. Nawaz practiced as a board-certified internal medicine doctor at St. Luke’s Hospital and the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.

Nawaz was convicted of soliciting a child via computer and traveling to meet a minor to engage in sexual acts. The Florida Times Union said prosecutors played a tape of Nawaz’s confession during the sentencing phase of the trial. Nawaz made remarks during his confession that suggested his contempt for American women—“[I] was laughing at how stupid girls are in this country, and I thanked God I did not marry someone from this country.”

The paper said the doctor’s wife by an arranged marriage was 8 months pregnant while he was chatting on computers at both hospitals. Authorities said Nawaz was “interested in girls that were virgins.”

When Judge John Merrett sentenced Nawaz, he said, “On behalf of my countrywomen, I join you in thanking God that you didn’t marry anyone from this country.” Basically Merrett agreed with what Nawaz said. The defendant’s comments were publicly aired in the courtroom—Nawaz’s own confession went to the heart of country and culture.

Now Nawaz is getting a new hearing. On Friday, the TU said the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled the judge’s comments “could be construed to suggest Merrett based his sentence at least in part on Nawaz’s national origin.” Never mind all those “virgins” Nawaz had plans for among all those “stupid” American minors.

The court went so far as to call the case one of “first impression” in the Sunshine State. So Nawaz’s case set a standard for cases to come.

Nawaz is from Pakistan; his lawyer told the TU after his trial the doctor would probably be deported.

“Probably be deported”?

Regardless of whether the court, on this questionable premise, reduces the would-be molester’s sentence, why would we permit this man to stay in the US? His own country has serious issues over women’s rights. He obviously has a dim view of the US. He confessed to the crime.

Send him packing and don’t let him back in.

It is chilling to think of this man, in the guise of a healer, putting his hands on a female, all the while despising the very person he is treating. Did patients suffer because of his lack of respect?  Did anyone think to investigate that?

It is the height of insanity for a court to revisit a sentence because a judge agreed with what the defendant said. Nawaz confessed—there is no doubt he sought minors for sex.

The case begs a question—why are we hiring doctors from countries where women’s rights are so tenuous?

In these troubled times, courts are not known for wisdom. The decision by the 1st District Court of Appeals to offer opportunity for relief on Nawaz’s sentence turns justice on its ear. The opinion itself is based on a sophistic argument. Once again American justice takes a bow to political correctness. The court in this case protects the convict rather than the state.

[Ed. note: I attempted to determine Nawaz's immigration status by contacting the Florida Attorney General's Office. That office recommended I contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement for his current status and Mayo Clinic for his status before he was convicted. I decided to trust the newspaper account which suggests he was in the country on some type of visa rather than spend hours jumping through bureaucratic hoops to get an answer to a simple question. It is  my opinion that when citizenship status is in question, the status should be disclosed for anyone charged with a crime.]