Retrial for Maryland doctors accused of trying to help Russia could be delayed

BALTIMORE -  A retrial is set for Nov. 27 for the Maryland doctors accused of sharing private medical records of their patients with an undercover FBI agent posing as a Russian government official.

Dr. Anna Gabrielian, a Johns Hopkins anesthesiologist, and her husband, Jamie Lee Henry, a U.S. Army Major, are charged with conspiracy and wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA.

A single juror held out from convicting them in June believing the government entrapped the Rockville couple.

The judge declared a mistrial.

The retrial could be delayed if the couple requests a "CIPA" (Classified Information Procedures Act) hearing. 

Judge Stephanie Gallagher gave the couple 24 hours to decide whether to request the hearing, which would try to determine any instances of foreign adversaries "flipping" high-level officials based on medical information or the history of Russian intelligence actions on U.S. soil.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Zelinsky warned any CIPA hearing may not produce anything of substance.

A CIPA hearing would undoubtedly delay the couple's trial, something their attorneys said was not in their interest.

In a superseding indictment filed last week, prosecutors charged Dr. Gabrielian with fraud concerning patient records.

"There are a number of reasons to believe HIPAA (charges) [were] an act of desperation," Dr. Henry's defense attorney David Schoen told the judge.