CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SANTA ANA : Attorney Asks to Move Assault Trail

Dr. Thomas Gionis cannot receive a fair trial in Orange County because it is “John Wayne country,”an attorney argued in Santa Ana court. Gionis is accused of arranging an attack on his former wife, Aissa Wayne, daughter of the late film star. Defense attorney Catherine A. Vincent asked the court to move the assault trial to another county because of the “Wayne mystique.” Not only is the airport named after Wayne, Vincent said, but it boasts a bronze statue of the actor, and the Sheriff’s Department paid tribute to Wayne by naming two of its helicopters Duke I and Duke II.