Judge Won't Dismiss Charges Against Newport Beach Surgeon, Girlfriend Accused Of Sexual Assault

NEWPORT BEACH (CBSLA) – An Orange County Superior Court judge Friday morning decide not to dismiss charges against a Newport Beach surgeon and his girlfriend who are accused of sexually assaulting several women.

Judge Gregory Jones Friday said charges against 39-year-old Grant William Robicheaux and 32-year-old Cerissa Laura Riley would not be dropped.

A hearing will be held July 12 to determine if the Orange County District Attorney's Office will be recused in the case.

This comes after a surprising and controversial move back in February in which O.C. District Attorney Todd Spitzer announced that his office would request that charges against Robicheaux and Riley be dismissed after a review of the case found a lack of evidence and a mishandling of the case by the previous DA.

However, at a court hearing a few days later, Jones said he needed more time to consider the request by prosecutors, who say the couple engaged in a swinger lifestyle, but there was no evidence of sexual assault. He also said that politics had infected the case.

Back in September of 2018, Robicheaux and Riley were charged with 17 counts each, including rape by use of drugs, oral copulation by anesthesia, assault with intent to commit sexual offense and possession of a controlled substance for sale.

At the time, former DA Tony Rackauckas said that Robicheaux and Riley would meet their victims at local bars and restaurants, drug them and then take them home and sexually assault them. Rackauckas claimed investigators had about 1,000 of these videos on the suspects' phones.

However, on Feb. 4, Spitzer held a news conference in which he said that he had assigned new prosecutors to the case after he took office, and their review found no evidence of unconscious women being assaulted.

"There is not a single piece of evidence or video or photo that shows an unconscious or incapacitated woman being sexually assaulted, not one," Spitzer said.

Spitzer accused his predecessor, Rackauckas, of possible prosecutorial misconduct: sensationalizing the case and driving it forward as a publicity stunt to further his own re-election efforts.

Spitzer then went on to apologize to the defendants.

"What happened in their lives and how this case materializes is nothing short of a travesty," Spitzer said.

Spitzer, a longtime O.C. Supervisor, ran for and defeated Rackauckas in the DA's race in November of 2018.

In a statement to CBSLA back in February, Rackauckas wrote: "It is possible that new evidence was developed and certainly I have dismissed cases and even reversed convictions when I did not have confidence in the evidence. However, considering the complaint contained seven Jane Does, it is too bad the public does not have the chance to explore the truth during a preliminary hearing."

An unusual aspect of the case is how a civil suit filed by an alleged victim created issues in the criminal case. Usually, civil litigation is suspended while a criminal case proceeds, but both the civil suit and criminal case have been proceeding together with one of the defense attorneys conducting depositions in the civil litigation.

Spitzer said that when Rackauckas was deposed in that civil case, he admitted that he had used the criminal case to help his re-election effort.

"Did you see this case of a thousand victims, a good-looking doctor, a good-looking girlfriend, as being a potential publicity vehicle for you?" Rackauckas was asked by a defense attorney in his deposition.

"I certainly expected to get in a lot of publicity, yes," he responded.

"And did you think that the publicity may be helpful to your campaign?"

"Yes," Rackauckas responded.

Both Robicheaux and Riley have previously pleaded not guilty to the charges and remain free on bail. Robicheaux was charged in connection with seven victims, while Riley was charged with five.

Robicheaux was featured on Bravo's show "Online Dating Rituals of the American Male" back in 2014.

(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)