Court upholds convictions of Ark. doctor's wife

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the conspiracy and aiding and abetting convictions of the wife of a doctor who was sentenced to life in prison for his role in a 2009 bombing that nearly killed the head of the Arkansas State Medical Board.

The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals said there was enough evidence to support Sangeeta "Sue" Mann's convictions on charges of conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding and aiding and abetting evidence tampering.

Mann is the wife of Randeep Mann, who was convicted of a weapon of mass destruction offense and other charges. His lawyers are also challenging his convictions, but the federal appeals court hasn't ruled on his case yet.

Sue Mann filed for divorce last year, but one of her lawyers, Jeff Rosenzweig, said she's still married.

She was convicted in 2010 of hiding documents as authorities investigated the February 2009 bombing at the West Memphis home of Dr. Trent Pierce.

"In subsequent testimony before the grand jury, Mann was confronted about the ... documents, ultimately admitted that she removed the documents from the office prior to the search, and eventually turned them over pursuant to a subpoena," Circuit Judge Raymond Gruender wrote in a decision handed down Tuesday.

Sue Mann was sentenced to a year in prison, but she has remained free pending appeals. Rosenzweig said they're disappointed with the court's decision and plan to seek a rehearing.

"Unless she wins the rehearing, then she will have to go into custody and do that year," he said.

Randeep Mann, meanwhile, is serving a life sentence for his role in the bombing. His attorneys have insisted he's innocent and argued earlier this year that there wasn't enough evidence to convict him in the case.

Prosecutors have said Randeep Mann was responsible for a bomb left outside Pierce's home after the board suspended Mann's license following the overdose death of some of his patients.

Pierce has said he believes the attack, which took away his sense of smell and left him blind in one eye and deaf in one ear, was revenge for revoking Mann's license to prescribe narcotics.

Mann's lawyers have argued that the bomber in the case is still unknown. Prosecutors have said they don't believe Mann planted the bomb in Pierce's driveway, but they think he had someone else do it.

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