An Orange County Superior Court judge Friday questioned the state attorney general office’s proposal to dismiss most of the rape charges filed against a Newport Beach surgeon and his girlfriend, again delaying a decision and suggesting state prosecutors who replaced the district attorney’s office may be not up to the task.

Judge Steven D. Bromberg opted not to make a ruling until next month on a request by state prosecutors to concentrate the prosecution on a 2017 sexual assault involving one of seven victims the couple is accused of abusing.

Bromberg’s decision came despite hearing from state prosecutors that three of the women no longer want to be part of the proceedings after their treatment by the Orange County district attorney’s office. Last month, the attorney general filed a motion to dismiss five counts of rape and three counts of kidnapping against the couple after taking over the case from the district attorney’s office.

The case has been mired in controversy. At the height of the campaign for office two years ago, then-Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas painted Dr. Grant Robicheaux, 40, and Cerissa Riley, 33, as sexual predators who used their good looks to prey on vulnerable women, drug them and take them back to their home to sexually assault them.

Read the full story at LATimes.com.