Prosecutors in California announced plans on Tuesday to drop all charges against a former Newport Beach doctor and reality TV personality who was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting seven women with his girlfriend.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement that an exhaustive, monthslong review determined there was “no provable evidence” that the former doctor, Grant Robicheaux, 39, or his girlfriend, Cerissa Riley, 33, had “committed any sexual offense.”
“My sworn duty as the elected district attorney is not to secure convictions,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the statement. “My sworn duty is to pursue justice and ensure that the rights of victims and defendants are protected.”
Mr. Spitzer said his predecessor, former District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, and Mr. Rackauckas’s chief of staff had “manufactured this case and repeatedly misstated the evidence.”
Mr. Rackauckas did not immediately respond to calls and messages on Tuesday.
Mr. Rackauckas first filed charges against Mr. Robicheaux and Ms. Riley in September 2018, accusing them of assaulting two women. At the time, Mr. Robicheaux was charged with nine felonies and Ms. Riley with eight, including rape by use of drugs, and assault with intent to commit a sexual offense.
In the weeks after those charges were filed, Mr. Rackauckas held two news conferences in which he said “investigators had recovered videos depicting up to 1,000 incapacitated women being sexually assaulted” by the couple, prosecutors said.
In October 2018, Mr. Rackauckas filed additional charges against the couple after five more women came forward “as a result of the intense media coverage on the case,” prosecutors said.
Ms. Riley and Mr. Robicheaux, a former orthopedic surgeon who appeared on Bravo’s “Online Dating Rituals of the American Male” in 2014, faced a maximum sentence of life in state prison if they had been convicted. They both pleaded not guilty.
Mr. Rackauckas lost to Mr. Spitzer in the November 2018 general election. In June, Mr. Robicheaux’s lawyer took Mr. Rackauckas’s deposition. Mr. Spitzer ordered a review of the case after Mr. Rackauckas admitted in the deposition that “he had used the case to garner media attention to help his re-election campaign,” prosecutors said.
“What the prior district attorney and his chief of staff did to these defendants and to the women involved in this case is a travesty,” said Mr. Spitzer, noting that “there was not a single video or photograph depicting an unconscious or incapacitated woman being sexually assaulted.”
Philip Kent Cohen, Mr. Robicheaux’s lawyer, said he and his client were “incredibly ecstatic” and feel vindicated by Mr. Spitzer’s decision to dismiss the charges.
“Now we have to try to put Grant and Cerissa’s life back together, which may not be possible,” he said.
“It’s incredibly scary as to what can flow from allegations and what can flow from media coverage and how a life can be destroyed overnight,” he added.
Mr. Robicheaux and Ms. Riley have each been out on $1 million bail since their arraignment in 2018, Mr. Cohen said.
A formal request for dismissal is still forthcoming, Mr. Cohen and the district attorney’s office said.
Michael Fell, a lawyer for one of the women who came forward as a victim in the case, said he and his client were “very disappointed with the decision.”
“If filing the charges against the doctor and his girlfriend garnered him attention in the race for district attorney, that’s one thing,” Mr. Fell said. “Whether or not my client and the six other ladies were sexually assaulted is a completely different issue.”
"case" - Google News
February 05, 2020 at 11:14AM
https://ift.tt/36XB6Yj
Charges to Be Dropped Against Ex-Doctor and Girlfriend in California Assault Case - The New York Times
"case" - Google News
https://ift.tt/37dicO5
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Charges to Be Dropped Against Ex-Doctor and Girlfriend in California Assault Case - The New York Times"
Post a Comment