Judge removes DA’s office from rape case against Newport Beach surgeon, girlfriend

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office was removed Thursday from handling high-profile criminal charges against a Newport Beach surgeon and his girlfriend accused of drugging and raping several women, after a judge determined that local prosecutors must be disqualified from proceeding with a case that has drawn international attention.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregory Jones noted that District Attorney Todd Spitzer has accused his predecessor of “manufacturing” the criminal case against Dr. Grant Robicheaux and Cerissa Riley, that Spitzer referred to it as a “travesty,” and that the DA has apologized to the couple.

“I have serious questions about the district attorney’s office ability to proceed on this case,” the judge said. “I think they are hopelessly conflicted.”

Spitzer had tried to drop the case, which was brought by former DA Tony Rackauckas. There was insufficient evidence for prosecution, Spitzer said.

The judge ordered that the case be turned over to the California Attorney General’s Office, and directed local prosecutors turn over to state prosecutors the evidence they have collected.

Deputy District Attorney Rick Zimmer told the judge that the DA’s office remains “steadfast in its belief the evidence is insufficient to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.” As a result, the prosecutor said, the office has an “irreconcilable conflict” that means they cannot ethically take the case to trial.

Attorney Philip Cohen, who is representing Robicheaux, repeatedly argued against the removal of local prosecutors.

“The district attorney’s office has said there is not probable cause to proceed on this case, period,” Cohen told the judge.

Prosecutors initially accused the couple of meeting women at restaurants and bars in Newport Beach, drugging them and then luring them back to Robicheaux’s apartment to sexually assault them.

But earlier this year, prosecutors reversed course, moving to drop the criminal charges and citing a lack of evidence and a belief that the couple were not sexual predators, but instead swingers whose sexual encounters, and drug use, were consensual.

The abrupt move to dismiss the case angered some of the victims, who said they had not been given advanced warning. Attorneys for some of the women accused the Orange County District Attorney’s Office of colluding with the attorneys representing Robicheaux and Riley, noting that the alleged victims lived across the country and had never spoken to each other, yet leveled similar allegations of sexual assault against the couple.

Judge Jones refused the request to dismiss the criminal charges, at the same time questioning the ability of the DA’s office to remain involved in the case. Attorneys representing Robicheaux and Riley then unsuccessfully sought to remove the judge from the case, and more recently argued he had no legal authority to remove local prosecutors.

This story is developing; more to come.