An investigator who led the probe into sexual assault allegations against a Newport Beach surgeon and his girlfriend is accusing Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer of sabotaging the prosecution of the case and retaliating against her for investigating the couple, according to a lawsuit filed this week.
D.A.’s office investigator Jennifer Kearns alleges in the lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court, that Spitzer colluded with Grant Robicheaux and Cerissa Riley’s defense attorneys while “engaging in a concerted political campaign to undermine the prosecution, discredit the victims, and ultimately destroy the criminal case” against the couple, the lawsuit states.
A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office did not immediately have a comment on the lawsuit.
Kearns, who has spent nearly 30 years in law enforcement, began looking into Robicheaux and Riley, a former schoolteacher, in late 2017 after learning of several reports taken by Newport Beach police describing sexual assault allegations against the couple. Roughly a year later, the couple was charged by Spitzer’s predecessor, Tony Rackauckas.
Read the full story on LATimes.com.