Lawyers Ask Judge to Suppress Rape Case Tapes
Lawyers for Andrew Luster, who is accused of rape, are asking a judge to suppress videotapes seized from his seaside home last year.
If the request is granted, it could significantly narrow the scope of the criminal case against Luster, because two of the three women he is accused of assaulting were identified solely by those tapes.
Luster, the 37-year-old great-grandson of cosmetics magnate Max Factor, is accused of sexually assaulting the three women after giving them a date-rape drug known as GHB, or gamma hydroxybutyrate. He faces 87 criminal counts, including rape, sodomy, drug possession and poisoning.
Ventura County sheriff’s deputies obtained a warrant and searched Luster’s Mussel Shoals house. They seized five videotapes from a bedroom, which allegedly depict Luster having sex with two unconscious women.
Defense attorneys Joel Isaacson and Roger Jon Diamond contend the tapes were illegally seized and should not be admitted as evidence. They want the criminal counts relating to the women shown on those tapes dismissed.
“The search warrant did not authorize the seizure of videotapes,” Diamond argued in his motion.
A hearing on the motion that had been scheduled for Wednesday was postponed to Nov. 19.
Prosecutors have not yet filed a written response
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
