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La Mesa

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An orthopedic surgeon charged with soliciting a former patient to kill his wife pleaded not guilty Tuesday.

Dr. Ashok Gidwani, 40, of El Cajon, is accused of trying to hire someone to kill Lata Gidwani, 39, his wife of 14 years,

She came to court Tuesday at his arraignment to show her support for him. Gidwani’s attorney, Peter Hughes, said the defendant’s wife filed declarations to the court indicating that she did not believe the charges.

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Gidwani was arrested Friday by La Mesa police, and San Diego Municipal Judge Timothy Tower set bail Tuesday at $25,000.

The couple are naturalized U.S. citizens from India, Hughes said, and the wife is a pathologist. “She is not unsophisticated. She is a medical doctor herself,” said Hughes.

In a brief interview after her husband’s arraignment, Lata Gidwani told reporters that she wanted her husband out of jail and said he is “a great family man.” She said she believes in reincarnation, and, if she were reincarnated, she would again pick him as her husband.

A Jan. 16 preliminary hearing was scheduled.

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