Gionis Faces Trial in Attack on Aissa Wayne; Bail at $250,000

Dr. Thomas A. Gionis was ordered Friday to stand trial for an attack on his ex-wife Aissa Wayne, daughter of actor John Wayne, after a judge found that authorities had amassed enough evidence to link the wealthy orthopedic surgeon to two street thugs who carried out the assault last fall.

Judge Susanne S. Shaw of Harbor Municipal Court in Newport Beach set bail of $250,000 for Gionis over the strong objections of prosecutors, but she offered a scathing summary of the evidence against the surgeon, concluding that he “snapped” as a result of a divorce and bitter custody battle over the couple’s only child, 2-year-old Anastasia.

“You went off the deep end,” Shaw said to Gionis after a weeklong preliminary hearing.

Gionis, 35, of Pomona, had been denied bail since his arrest April 4 because authorities considered him a flight risk. Gionis’ lawyer, F. Lee Bailey, predicted Friday afternoon that his client would be released soon.

Gionis is charged with conspiracy to commit assault with a deadly weapon in the Oct. 3 assault on Wayne, 33, and her then-boyfriend, millionaire financier Roger W. Luby, 53, at Luby’s gated Newport Beach estate. Wayne was bloodied and Luby suffered a slashed Achilles’ tendon in the attack, which prosecutors contend was ordered by Gionis as a warning to Wayne.

Gionis has pleaded not guilty to the charges and his lawyers have said he knew nothing about the attack.