The Galveston County Daily News

TEXAS CITY — Two doctors jailed Wednesday after failing to appear in court have another week either to produce records tied to the 2005 BP blasts in Texas City or appear again before the judge who ordered them into custody.

A woman who is among the hundreds of plaintiffs with cases pending against the London-based petroleum giant was apparently close to settling her case, court officials said. However, before a settlement could be finalized, BP reportedly needed to see reports from doctors the woman visited after the explosions in March 2005.

The blasts occurred on March 23, 2005, and killed 15, wounding hundreds more.

The woman told attorneys she had received treatment from doctors Richard Kondejewski and Rosemary Stogre at their Kemah practice.

However, Kondejewski said that he and wife Stogre had no records or recollection of treating the woman after the blasts. They did treat her in 2003 and 2004 for unrelated issues.

“Her attorney spent five hours going through every record and receipt we had,” Kondejewski said.

Kondejewski also said they did not heed a court summons to appear at a Monday hearing because they had no pertinent records. 212th State District Court Judge Susan Criss, presiding over the case, ordered them into custody Wednesday for their non-appearance.

Deputies went to the practice Wednesday and initially offered to let Kondejewski and Stogre follow the deputies in their own car so they could return more easily after being booked and making bond. However, deputies later said Stogre tried to run, before they caught and handcuffed her.

Criss said that no one voiced a claim that the doctor duo had no post-blast records of treating the woman. She also said that a subpeona was not a suggestion, but a requirement to appear in court.

“(Stogre) kept telling me she had to treat people, and I said, ‘I know what you do is important, but what we do is important, too,’” Criss said. “If people can just ignore a subpeona, or any rule of law, then our system doesn’t work. Nobody’s above the law. Judges get subpeaonaed often, and if I get subpoenaed, I have to honor it, too.”

Criss has called another hearing on the matter for next Thursday. The doctors left jail Wednesday after posting $50,000 bond.