FULLERTON (CNS) - The lead Newport Beach investigator in the case against a hand surgeon and his girlfriend charged with drugging and sexually assaulting multiple women testified in a preliminary hearing Monday about one of the victims, who said she recalled immediately blacking out after sipping a drink the doctor bought her and waking up nude in a home with the defendants.
The preliminary hearing for Grant Robicheaux, 42, and Cerissa Riley, 36, began Monday nearly five years after charges were filed against the couple. The unusual length of time between charges filed and a preliminary hearing, which will determine if the defendants should be ordered to stand trial, is owed to a complicated legal procedures that included the recusal of the Orange County District Attorney's Office from prosecuting the case.
Since the Attorney General's Office took over the case, attorneys representing the defendants have filed various motions challenging the original search warrant and alleging outrageous governmental conduct, all of which have been rejected. A civil suit filed by one of the alleged victims against the defendants, which the lead criminal defense attorney has used to gather evidence of his own, was dismissed earlier this year at the plaintiff's request.
The case became a political football as soon as it was filed when current District Attorney Todd Spitzer criticized his predecessor, Tony Rackauckas, during the 2018 election, for how he prosecuted the two. Spitzer attempted to dismiss charges, but that was rejected by an Orange County Superior Court judge before Spitzer's office was then recused from it.
Robicheaux and Riley face charges involving two alleged victims. Robicheaux had previously faced charges involving five alleged victims.
Riley was charged in connection with three alleged victims, but a prior Orange County Superior Court judge granted a motion from prosecutors to reduce the charges.
There were originally a total of 13 accusers, some of whom could still be used by prosecutors as further evidence of a pattern of behavior at trial.
One of the victims told investigators that she and her roommate at the time went to Newport Beach restaurant-bar, Sharkeez, where one of the alleged victims had a few drinks -- a vodka and soda with a "splash" of cranberry -- before meeting Riley in October 2016, Gamble testified. Riley said she was alone at the bar and asked if she could hang with the two women, Newport Beach police Detective Marie Gamble testified Monday.
The alleged victim said she was "concerned" about Riley being alone at the bar, Gamble said. Riley told them that her boyfriend was at work at the time, Gamble said.
Just as the woman and her roommate were about to leave, Robicheaux showed up and Riley introduced him as her boyfriend, Gamble testified. The group decided to stay and continue partying, and when the alleged victim said she was going to get another drink, Robicheaux volunteered to buy the next round, Gamble testified.
The alleged victim told Gamble that she felt as if Riley attempted to block her view or distract her when she looked over at Robicheaux buying the drinks at the bar, Gamble said. The comment prompted various objections from Robicheaux's attorney, Philip Cohen, with Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael Leversen upholding the objections.
But Attorney General's Office prosecutor, Namita Patel, got Gamble to testify that the alleged victim was "unable to see" Robicheaux as he purchased the drinks.
The alleged victim "took a few sips" of the drink Robicheaux brought her, and then she had no memories of the rest of the night until she woke up in a "dark room, completely naked," Gamble testified.
Next to her was her roommate, who was also "topless," and when the woman attempted to rouse her friend she could not wake her, Gamble testified.
The woman -- "feeling loopy" -- scrounged around for her clothes, but could not find her top, Gamble testified. She said she fell out of the bed and was hanging on to things to stay on her feet, the detective testified.
The woman was "concerned" her roommate was not waking up, Gamble said.
Then she saw Robicheaux in a bathroom and confronted him, Gamble said. The defendant had a "what the (expletive)" look on his face and "grabbed" the woman by the arms, Gamble testified the alleged victim told her.
Robicheaux said, "You wanted to be here, you wanted to come back," the accuser told Gamble.
The woman also accused Robicheaux of attempting to kiss her and she tried to push him away, Gamble testified.
"It started going south very quickly and he started to hit her and continued to repeat, `You wanted this, you wanted to come here,"' Gamble testified.
The woman attempted to block the punches to her arms and chest and tried to scratch him, Gamble testified. When the woman fell down, Robicheaux allegedly began kicking her on the legs and back, according to the detective.
Riley allegedly tried to intervene, saying that Robicheaux was "going too far and to stop and it wasn't worth it," Gamble testified.
The woman has told investigators her vagina felt "numb" and "bruised inside" after the encounter, Gamble testified. She also suffered so many bruises to her legs she couldn't wear shorts, the woman told Gamble.
The woman's roommate told Gamble the alleged victim's screaming for help woke her up, and they locked themselves in the bathroom until officers arrived, Gamble testified.
The woman spoke with patrol officers and investigators in 2018, and then again on a phone call with prosecutors and Gamble, who was on vacation at the time, she testified.
When police later executed a search warrant at the residence they found numerous prescriptions, baggies of a powdery substance and multiple guns, some of which were registered to Robicheaux and some to a family member, prosecutors said. Among the guns found in a safe were a Glock handgun, shotguns, an AR-15 rifle, and an AK-47, prosecutors said.
Cohen grilled Gamble over alleged discrepancies in her accounts over the years. Cohen questioned Gamble on whether she ever confronted the patrol officers who responded to the scene about the woman's claim they had not "taken her seriously." Gamble said she did speak with the officers during the course of her investigation, but she did not talk to them about "laughing off" the alleged victim and was not aware that an Attorney General's investigator had addressed the issue with the officers.
When Cohen asked her if she would agree there were "significant contradictions" in the woman's account, Gamble countered that there were "a lot of consistencies."
Cohen also confronted Gamble about "tainting" the case by telling the woman and her roommate that she was exploring the potential for many more victims. Gamble testified she was being "cautious" about sharing too much with the alleged victims, but felt she had to let the roommate know to help her "overcome" her "conflict" with the accuser.
Cohen also quizzed Gamble about why she did not record the telephonic conversation with prosecutors on the case. Gamble said she did not have the technical know-how to record a Zoom-type call and instead took notes and typed up a report.
Cohen also asked Gamble if she questioned the alleged victim about drinking herself into a blackout. The defense team has alleged in the past that she has had drinking problems.
The preliminary hearing is expected to continue through the rest of the week.
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