Jury finds plastic surgeon guilty

A jury has returned a guilty verdict in the trial of Mark Gilliland, the Houston plastic surgeon who severely injured two women in a Galleria-area hit-and-run last year. Gilliland was found guilty of two counts of intoxication assault, for which he faces a possible sentence ranging from two years' probation to 53 years in prison, according to the Chronicle.

Prosecutors said Gilliland was "rip-roaring drunk" the day of the March 2005 accident and that his Mercedes SL500 went onto a sidewalk near Sage and Hidalgo, hitting Amanda Holland and Joanna Moore. And though Gilliland admitted he was intoxicated from drinks and pills, he said he didn't see the women and could not have prevented the accident, drunk or sober. His attorneys said Holland and Moore were at fault because, being English, they looked the wrong way before stepping into the street. Gilliland said he knew he had hit something, but he didn't stop because he was afraid he would be robbed.

The trial will now move into the punishment phase.