NEWPORT BEACH : Gionis to Be Tried Separately in Assault

The trial of Dr. Thomas Gionis, accused of attacking his ex-wife Aissa Wayne and her boyfriend, was severed Tuesday from that of Jerrel L. Hindergardt, the co-defendant in the case.

The trial of Gionis, 36, a Pomona surgeon accused of ordering the Oct. 3, 1988, assault on the daughter of the late actor John Wayne, was postponed at the defense’s request to a tentative date of June 5.

Gionis is now on his fourth set of lawyers, and the change of attorneys has been primarily responsible for delays in bringing his case to trial. His current lawyer, John D. Barnett, is recuperating from a back injury and will not be ready for trial before June.

But Superior Court Judge Myron S. Brown ordered Tuesday that the trial go ahead for Hindergardt, 38, who is accused of leading the two-man attack on Wayne and financier Roger W. Luby in front of Luby’s Newport Beach estate. The Hindergardt trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Hindergardt’s attorney, Todd A. Landgren, asked that his client’s trial also be postponed. But prosecutors opposed the delay, and the judge said there was no good cause shown why Hindergardt’s trial should not go forward.

Wayne and Luby were pistol-whipped, and Luby suffered a slash to his Achilles tendon during the late night attack. Prosecutors claim that Gionis ordered the attack during a bitter child custody battle with Wayne.

Both victims have identified Hindergardt as their attacker. He has also been identified by Jeffrey K. Bouey, the other attacker, who is cooperating with authorities. Also important to the prosecution’s case is testimony from private investigator O. Daniel Gal, who has testified that he hired Hindergardt. Gal is the primary witness against Gionis, claiming that it was the doctor who ordered the attack.

Earlier, prosecutors had opposed allowing the case of the two defendants to be severed, stating they did not want to put the victims through the agony of testifying at two trials. But in court papers, Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher W. Evans noted Tuesday that the case has already been postponed too many times.

Hindergardt and Gionis will be tried on eight counts: conspiracy to commit assault, assault with a knife, two counts of assault with a gun, two counts of false imprisonment, one count of witness intimidation and one count of residential burglary.

Each could be sentenced to as much as 12 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Gionis, who is still practicing medicine, is free on $100,000 bail. Hindergardt remains in Orange County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.