Judge Unseals Warrant On Newport Beach Surgeon, Reversing Earlier Order Banning Reporters From Sharing Its Details
Grant Robicheaux, 38, once dubbed Orange County’s most eligible bachelor, and his girlfriend, Cerissa Riley, 31, have been accused of rape by drugs, kidnapping, oral copulation by anesthesia, assault with intent to commit sexual offenses and other crimes. Lawyers for media outlets argued that the judge's earlier order stopping reporters from sharing the details of the warrant was a “preemptively unconstitutional prior restraint on speech.”
Los Angeles Times:
Judge Reverses Order That Barred Reporting On Search Warrant In Case Of Newport Beach Surgeon
An Orange County Superior Court judge Tuesday reversed an order barring journalists from reporting on a search warrant filed in the case against a Newport Beach surgeon facing felony charges of drugging and raping seven women dating to 2009. Grant Robicheaux, 38, once dubbed Orange County’s most eligible bachelor, and his girlfriend, Cerissa Riley, 31, are accused of rape by drugs, kidnapping, oral copulation by anesthesia, assault with intent to commit sexual offenses and other crimes. They have denied all accusations of nonconsensual sex. (Fry, Winton and Sclafani, 10/23)
The Associated Press:
Judge Reverses Order On Media In Alleged Surgeon Rape Case
"It was absolutely an order that violated the constitutional rights of the reporters in the courtroom who happened to come back for that afternoon session," she said. Last week, Jones took journalists' copies of the documents saying they were sealed and barred them from reporting the contents. The reporters and other members of the media had received the copies from Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer at a press conference earlier in the day criticizing the district attorney's handling of the case against Dr. Grant Robicheaux. (10/23)
Orange County Register:
Search Warrant Becomes Center Of Debate Over Criminal Probe Into Newport Beach Surgeon And His Girlfriend
Carried out in January, the warrant and supporting affidavit written by Newport Beach police Detective Marie Gamble details allegations from three women, two of whom Grant William Robicheaux and Cerissa Laura Riley have since been charged with sexually assaulting. The first alleged incident detailed in the warrant occurred on April 12, 2016, when a woman told investigators that Robicheaux and Riley had provided her with drugs and sexually assaulted her. The second woman told detectives that on Oct. 2, 2016 she blacked out at a bar and woke up to find a man she didn’t know, later identified as Robicheaux, on top of her, hitting her in the face. The third woman also told detectives that the couple had drugged and raped her, but police have not filed criminal charges in relation to those allegations. (Emery, 10/23)
In other news —
Reuters:
USC, Gynecologist Face More Claims Despite Class-Action Settlement
Fourteen more women accusing a former University of Southern California gynecologist of sexual misconduct sued the physician and the university on Tuesday, as their lawyer decried a proposed class-action settlement with the school as "grossly inadequate." Women's rights attorney Gloria Allred said the tentative $215 million deal reached last week to settle claims brought in federal court against Dr. George Tyndall and USC by his former patients would let the university off too easy, without the school fully accounting for its role in the scandal. (10/23)