Celebrity plastic surgeon Grant Robicheaux and his model girlfriend Cerissa Riley are set to be charged with the drugging and sexual assault of at least two women.
Robicheaux, 40, was initially accused of drugging and sexually assaulting at least seven women, but prosecutors from the California Attorney General's office announced in May that they wanted to focus on just one woman as they didn't have enough evidence to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
However, prosecutors told Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank Ospino that they now intend to move forward with two of the original seven women that the Newport Beach surgeon was accused of sexually assaulting.
Riley, on the other hand, was initially charged with the assault of five women.
The couple have pleaded not guilty and claimed that all sex was consensual.
The case against Robicheaux, who appeared on Bravo's "Online Dating Rituals of the American Male", has been embroiled in controversy since it first began more than two years ago.
Former Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said in September 2018 that he had video evidence to prove that the couple had abused more than 1,000 women.
Rackauckas described the couple as sexual predators who used their good looks to lure women to their Newport Beach home where they drug and sexually assault them.
Todd Spitzer, who took over as Orange County's top prosecutor in 2019, assigned two deputy district attorneys to conduct a review of all evidence gathered in the case and revealed that there were "serious proof problems" with the investigation.
Prosecutors examined thousands of videos and photos, hundreds of hours of audio recordings, thousands of documents, and thousands of text messages between the couple spanning four years before concluding that there was insufficient evidence against Robicheaux and Riley.
Spitzer attempted to drop all charges against the couple, claiming that Rackauckas had manufactured the case against them in order to bolster his reelection prospects.
However, Spitzer's attempts to drop all charges against the couple were denied by Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregory Jones last year, who removed the district attorney's office from the case and turned it over to the California attorney general's office.
In July 2021, Orange County Superior Court Judge Steven Bromberg recused himself from the case amid allegations that he mistreated both defense attorneys and state prosecutors during a recent hearing.
Defense attorneys filed a motion to disqualify the judge after claiming that he had attacked the competency and integrity of several lawyers, while state prosecutors accused him of attempting to scale back charges against Riley and Robicheaux.
Judge Frank Ospino, who has taken over the case, said on Thursday that he expects to issue a ruling next week on a request by state prosecutors to reduce the charges against the couple.
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