A doctor whose patient died after an abortion in Moreno Valley more than a year ago was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on a charge of second-degree murder.

Deputy District Attorney Kennis Clark told Riverside County Judge Dennis McConaghy that Sharon Hamptlon bled to death after Bruce Steir, 66, ignored a danger he knew he created. Disregarding that danger makes the charge murder, she said.

But defense attorney Doron Weinberg argued that if Steir did not realize the danger -- even because of incompetence or inattention -- involuntary murder is the most that can be charged.

Testimony in the preliminary hearing ended two weeks ago but arguments had been postponed until Wednesday.

Steir was on medical probation at the time of the abortion because of mistakes in abortions -- including uterine perforations -- Steir performed in the past. He had said he would have made sure Hamptlon received immediate treatment if he had known he perforated her uterus during the Dec. 13, 1996, procedure.

After Hamptlon was discharged from A Lady's Choice Women's Medical Center, her mother drove to Barstow, where she and her daughter lived. But Doris Hamptlon could not waken her daughter when they arrived at the mother's home. Hamptlon, 27, was dead before paramedics got her to Barstow Community Hospital.

Her son, Curtis Bullorck, was 3 when his mother died.

Outside the courthouse Wednesday, Hamptlon's parents were pleased with McConaghy's decision. Ben Hamptlon said Steir knew what he had done to his daughter as sure as a driver who runs someone down in the street.

"He knew," the father said.

Both attorneys said key testimony came from Nancy Myles, an ultrasound technician who assisted Steir in the abortion. Myles recalled that Steir looked up during the abortion and said, "I think I pulled bowel."

The bowel cannot be reached without perforating the uterus, Clark said. If Steir thought he had grabbed the bowel with a clamp during the procedure, he had to think he had perforated the uterus, she said.

Myles also testified that Steir told her he would call 911 if he had grasped the bowel.

"If Dr. Steir even momentarily believed he pulled bowel, the answer is clear as to what he should have done," Clark said.

But Weinberg argued that even if Myles' recollections are accurate they show only that Steir initially thought there might have been a problem. Steir knew what to do if he perforated a uterus, he said, but did not act because a further examination indicated there was no problem.

Steir remained in the recovery room for about an hour, checked Hamptlon's vital signs and left only after he was satisfied with her condition, Weinberg said. Medical assistants who helped patients in the clinic's recovery room testified they noticed nothing unusual about Hamptlon's condition.

Steir, who surrendered his license to practice medicine in March, is free on bail and will be arraigned in court on March 11.

All that is required for someone to be ordered to stand trial is a strong suspicion the crime occurred.

Published 2/19/1998