Chapter 1: The Lifestyle

CHAPTER 1—THE LIFESTYLE

Justine Harman A listener’s note: The following series includes descriptions of violence, sexual assault, and grooming. It is not recommended for young audiences.

Justine Harman: Around 11:30 p.m. on October 2nd, 2016, 83-year-old Coranne Gibson was getting ready for bed at her home in Newport Beach, California when she was startled by an insistent noise coming from the alley behind her house.

Coranne Gibson: I was in bed. My husband was out of town. And off of my bedroom I have a little deck that looks on to 43rd Street. We’re on 43rd Street.

All of a sudden I heard this terrific scream, ‘Help!’ And it sounded really desperate, and I thought, What is that?

I think I heard it three times. And anyway, I got out of bed and I went to the deck to look outside because it was coming from, looking at 43rd street, it was coming from this way, the ocean side. But I couldn’t tell where it was and I didn’t see anybody.

Justine Harman: Coranne, who has feathery white hair and a warm, easy smile, had an urge to run outside, but her husband was out of town and she was in her pajamas. And, anyway, she could see from the deck off of the bedroom that her neighbor Austin had already taken off on foot to see what was happening.

Coranne Gibson: So I came back in and called 9-1-1. And I just said, ‘Somebody is yelling for ‘help,’ and it sounds frantic, and I’ve never heard anything like that. And please hurry.

Justine Harman: Then Coranne went downstairs to the alleyway, where a group of neighbors had already assembled.

Coranne Gibson: The police car came immediately. Two of ’em ran between the houses. The one on the corner is the crime scene. And the other was next door. We couldn’t tell which house it was—we didn’t know. The police ran in between the houses and disappeared.

They were in there forever. They didn’t come out. And it got to be about midnight and I thought, ‘Well I’ve got to go to sleep. I can’t wait any longer.’

Justine Harman: Later Coranne would find out—first from gossiping neighbors and then reporters on the hunt—that a 25-year-old woman told officers she couldn’t remember how she had gotten there. She’d awoken that night to find an orthopedic surgeon named

Grant Robicheaux hitting her in the face while Robicheaux’s girlfriend, Cerissa Riley, filmed the altercation on an iPhone. The victim, who says she met the pair while out a bar with a friend, was wearing only a top and underwear.

According to public documents, the handsome doctor—along with his older sister Jennifer and Jen’s husband, William—purchased the three-story, $2 million duplex just four months earlier. They each paid $250K in cash and took out a 1.5 million loan to cover the rest. The plan was to flip the property in two years. Until then, the adult siblings would share the home—Jennifer and William and their young son, Wilder, in the main property; Grant in the two-bedroom apartment upstairs. Together they tossed around ideas about replacing the garage doors, planting bougainvillea on the exterior stone wall, and putting in an outdoor kitchen or a gas fire pit. Locals began to notice sandy surfboards piling up in the front patio. They had been happy to put an end to the carousel of young renters coming in and out of the place.

But now the rumors about her new neighbors were flying. Every day, it seemed, Coranne heard something new.

Coranne Gibson: Somebody said that they heard her say, ‘Get off me.’ I didn’t hear that. But somebody said that.

The neighbor on the corner then said the next day, we were talking. And he had gone fishing with the doctor, so he knew him. I asked him, because he seemed to know a lot. He didn’t want to tell me this, he was embarrassed, but he said it was rough sex, is what he said. And I said, ‘Oh.’

Justine Harman: From Justine Harman and Audiochuck, this is O.C. Swingers, chapter one: “The Lifestyle.”

Justine Harman: Police paperwork filed by the Newport Beach Police Department from that night back in October 2016 paints a chaotic scene. At 11:36 p.m., officers responded to reports of screaming. They first checked 206 44^th Street with “negative results” before knocking on the door at 204 44th Street on the corner of Balboa Boulevard. Thirty-six-year-old Grant answered the door shirtless and in shorts.

He told officers that he and his girlfriend Cerissa “went out drinking” that night, and that he wasn’t sure if they had brought anyone home with them. He said he had gone to sleep in the upstairs bedroom and was awoken by a strange girl screaming at the foot of his bed. He didn’t recognize her, and he didn’t know whether Cerissa had brought her home.

The report then reads: “Robicheaux stated he put his arms out in a motion to control her because she was yelling and screaming. Robicheaux stated he recorded the incident on his cell phone, but refused to show officers the video. Robicheaux denied hitting or assaulting any female subjects. Robicheaux said it is common for subjects he does not know to spend the night at his house so that they don’t drink and drive.”

Officers interviewed the three women on the scene: Grant’s 29-year-old girlfriend Cerissa Riley, the alleged victim, and the alleged victim’s friend. All three appeared to be heavily intoxicated. The report says the victim had “bloodshot watery eyes, odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from her person, slurred speech, and unsteady gait.” The report continues: “After finishing my interview with [the victim], I attempted to speak with her approximately five minutes later. She stated she did not remember talking with me the first time.”

Cerissa said she had been blacked out and had no memory of the previous two to three hours, but that the two women at her home were “crazy.” She was unable to provide any other information. The incident, which was later filed under “suspicious circumstances” and closed by the Newport Beach Police Department—a fact that later became vital to Grant and Cerissa’s defense—was reopened a little over a year later as part of a larger investigation into the couple.

On January 3, 2018, a judge signed a warrant permitting detectives to search the premises. Six days later, on January 9. 2018, officers recovered two illegal assault rifles, an AR15 and an AK47, and an array of controlled substances including large quantities of psilocybin, commonly known as mushrooms, cocaine, MDMA—or ecstasy—and over 100 liquid grams of GHB, also known as the date rape drug. They also seized a mountain of digital evidence including more than 214,000 video files, 3.5 million pictures, a million documents, and 137,000 emails from the couple’s computers.

Nearly two full years after Coranne Gibson called 9-1-1, the couple was charged with “rape by use of drugs” and “assault with intent to commit sexual offense.” On September 18, 2018, then- District Attorney Tony Rackauckas first discussed the details of case.

 

Justine Harman: Standing at a wooden podium in a crisp navy blue suit—his dark hair slicked back, streaks of white at the temples—he addresses members of the press. In front of him, a placard advertises his Twitter handle, @OCDATony.

Tony Rackauckas: Well, I want to thank you for being here today for this important announcement. People often assume that rapists are creepy, scary men who lunge out from hiding among bushes and attack unsuspecting women.

This morning, my office is announcing the filing of charges and the arrest of well- known Newport Beach Orthopedic surgeon, and reality star Grant Robicheaux, and his female companion Cerissa Riley. The two were charged on September 11, 2018 on the following counts, rape by use of drugs, oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance, assault with intent to commit sexual offense, four counts of possession of a controlled substance for sale, two counts of possession of an assault weapon. Robicheaux is additionally charged with two sentencing enhancements for being personally armed with a firearm during health and safety code violations.

Justine Harman: Rackauckas then urges additional victims to come forward.

Tony Rackauckas: “We believe the defendants used their good looks and charm to lower the inhibitions of their potential prey. I want women out there to know that the Orange County District Attorney’s office is taking this case very seriously. We know some victims might blame themselves. They might feel there is no crime to report because the knowingly drank alcohol or consumed drugs with the defendants. But you need to hear this: Your conscious decision to party with these defendants, or anybody, using alcohol or other substances does not give them a pass to rape or assault you once you’re past the point of consent. To do so is a crime. If you feel you’ve been victimized in this case, we ask that you contact Eric Wiseman, conduct an investigation, and do so without judgment.”

“We’ve all heard of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Well a wolf can wear scrubs or doctor’s clothing. A wolf can be a beautiful woman.”

Justine Harman: Then Rackauckas fields questions from the media. And here’s where things get really interesting. If this were a TV show or a movie, we might freeze the frame to make sure you’re paying extra close attention. Bill Cunningham from Good Morning America asks about the content of the digital evidence recovered from Grant and Cerissa’s home back in January:

Bill: You mentioned you don’t know how many victims. How many videos do you have of different victims?

Tony Rackauckas: Many

Bill: Dozens? Hundreds?

Tony Rackauckas: Hundreds.

Bill: More than a thousand?

Tony Rackauckas: I think so.

Justine Harman: The news—and the suggestion that there could be hundreds, or more than a thousand, assaults on videotape—goes on to make headlines. Over and over and over again.

[INSERT: NEWS HEADLINE ABOUT ACCUSATIONS]

Justine Harman: A month later, on October 17, 2018, additional charges are filed against the couple. That same day, Danielle Bajec, one of the named victims in the criminal case, also files a reported $22 million civil suit against the couple. After the arraignment, Rackauckas once again addresses the press:

Tony Rackauckas: From “As of today, we are able to file charges on behalf of seven victims” all the way to “If convicted, Robicheaux faces 82 years to life in prison, and Riley faces 63 years to life in prison.”

Justine Harman: I first became aware of the case against Cerissa Riley and Grant Robicheaux back in February of last year when my producer Josh sent me a Los Angeles magazine story written by Jason McGahan. The title: “Accused of Serial Rape, a Newport Beach Surgeon and His Girlfriend Used the ‘Swinger’ Defense.”

Josh and I spent hours that day talking about that article and our differences in perspective— how our personal biases and experiences affect the way we view the world around us. He’s a former Hollywood executive who’s seen firsthand how allegations of sexual misconduct can ruin a man’s career; I’m a journalist who spent the last ten years working in women’s magazines— first at People, then at ELLE and Glamour—and honing essays about the #MeToo movement, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, and our collective, so-called “reckoning.” I also wrote and reported two podcasts that pulled apart thorny news stories: Broken Harts, about two white women who drove their six adopted Black kids off a cliff, and The Baron of Botox, on the life and untimely death of dermatologist-to-the-stars Dr. Fredric Brandt.

What can I say? I’m dark and twisty. I’ve always been fascinated by the psychology behind remarkable events—and the ecosystems in which they thrive. When we first got interested in this case, Josh and I talked about the shoddy veneer of statements like “believe all women” and how deeply critical society is of women who look a certain way. Women who party. Status- seeking women who find themselves blacked out at a handsome doctor’s multimillion dollar home in the middle of the night. We realized that, in some ways, this story could only happen in Orange County. To understand why that is, you first have to understand the setting.

Sean Emery: Well, covering Orange County overall, it’s a tough place to characterize by one thing, because so many different parts of it are so many different things. For instance, you have the areas like Newport or South Orange County, which are more upscale areas. Then of course, you have more working class areas, Santa Ana, parts of Anaheim, in which you have a whole different set of issues.

Justine Harman: Sean Emery has been a crime reporter for the Orange County Register for over 14 years and has been covering the case against Dr. Grant Robicheaux and Cerissa Riley since the beginning. He even got lawyered up back in 2018 when the court briefly tried to stop him and a handful of other reporters from disseminating search warrant details to the public.

You’ll hear from Sean throughout this series—he’s kind of our man on the ground in the O.C.

Sean Emery: As far as the political leanings, traditionally Newport has been conservative. Newport for most of Orange County’s history was the seat of county, or I shouldn’t say the seat of County power. It was an area where a lot of the individuals who were most active in conservative politics and who had the control over the county were based. The actual seat of county power would be Santa Ana, that’s where the civic center and all of that is located.

Newport, it still has a lot of political power, but the increase of South Orange County has also diluted that a little bit, in that South Orange County has its own political power grown from there. Of course, the fact that Orange County overall has slowly become somewhat less conservative than it used to be.

Justine Harman: Due to its steel-nosed conservatism, Fortune magazine once called Orange County, a constellation of 34 individual cities located only 35 miles south of L.A., “America’s nut country.” The nickname stuck. Then, in 2016, Hillary Clinton cracked that nut by becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the county since the Great Depression. In contrast, California as a state has been voting for Democratic presidents for the last 30 years.

A 2018 New York Times article titled “Orange County Fights Turning Blue. And the Resistance Is Formidable,” describes it like this: “Conservative views, though fading, remain strong across this rectangle of Pacific beachfront and suburban sprawl southeast of Los Angeles.” Newport Beach, one of Orange County’s six coastal cities and likely its most affluent, is 80 percent white and predominantly Christian and Republican. So, yeah, not great for womenfolk. It’s a place where a subtle allegiance to old world thinking still grants you access to an elite world of wealth, influence, and political protection lurking just beneath the surface.

And among the many local appetites, chief among them is an ageless quest for the “good life.” You could say that people come to Newport for the three Bs: boats, beers, and babes. You shouldn’t, but you could.

Sean Emery: I think it is part of that Southern California culture, that spring break culture, and this is the, I think, the adult equivalent of that to a certain extent. This is a destination. This is an area people go for spring break, it’s for years known for July 4th celebrations, basically open party city on some of these days.

Of course, it is the affluent side of it as well. Newport is one of the most affluent parts of Orange County and one most affluent parts of Southern California. The Balboa area is the more, I don’t know if rowdier is the right word, but the more party centric versus the more sedate, comparatively, mansions a little more inland.

This case as it has evolved, has definitely taken in the culture of Newport Beach in particular and this subculture, the swinger subculture, within Newport Beach and the Balboa Peninsula area and all that entails.

The swinger subculture itself, it’s not one that gets a lot of mainstream attention, I wouldn’t say. It’s one of those things that’s underneath the surface. Having said that, Newport has, and especially the Balboa area, has a reputation for, it’s a party area. It’s an area that’s very upscale, lot of young professionals and I don’t know if extreme is the right word for it, but it’s like the far end of that culture, that culture of partying, of young professionals having fun. Obviously, you have the drug element and that’s the far edge of it.

Justine Harman: Though it may not be mainstream, the Orange County swinger subculture isn’t exactly new either. For the June 1999 issue of Los Angeles magazine, writer Dave Gardetta embedded with devotees of a sex-positive movement known back then simply as “the Lifestyle. “No one can remember why it started here, or even account for its fulminating growth through the last decade, but Orange County on Saturday Night,” he wrote, “has become the Xanadu where Los Angeles’ middle classes seek to reinvent themselves.”

In the piece, Gardetta argues that “the Lifestyle” is actually where the liberal agenda and conservative values meet. Because “the Lifestyle” doesn’t exist without the heteronormative couple. And, at the end of the day, you go home to your partner, your yard, your bed. He writes, “It bridges the worlds of the prom dance and the lap dance. You can have sex with seven new ‘friends’ on Saturday night and still make it to church on time Sunday morning.” Some of the women quoted were reluctant to join “the Lifestyle” at first, but slowly came around to it. “I didn’t know what to expect. I thought I’d walk in and get raped,” says a petite brunette named Julie. “When I finally got in, though. [My husband] John had to pull me back because I liked it so much.”

Most of the couples featured in the story are traditional if not frumpy. Of one, Gardetta writes: “There are matching his-and-hers towels in the bathroom of their small Reseda home, two Ford Escorts in the driveway, and a little garden in the back. From the sidewalk, their lives are the picture of normalcy.” They’re also unremarkable in the one way that makes being desired by multiple strangers in a single night unlikely in the real world. Of that same Reseda couple, Gardetta writes: “Kris has the looks and build that were once called ‘zaftig blonde’ and Jeff, who met Kris in junior college and works on computers most of the day, looks, well, like he works on computers most of the day.”

Unlike their swinging predecessors, Grant Robicheaux and Cerissa Riley do not look like they work at computers most of the day. Cerissa, who is now 33, has a lean dancer’s body, long brown hair, and wide-set blue eyes. She’s one of the few people who can pull off low-rise jean shorts. Many news stories about this case refer to her as a model—despite there being no evidence that she ever was one. Louisiana-bred Robicheaux, who turned 40 last year but still looks 25, has storybook good looks and a Crest-white smile. That, combined with a few flattering press hits, made him something of a local celebrity.

Around Newport Beach, Grant Robicheaux was the man. He was often spotted skateboarding with a surfboard tucked under his arm or hopping into his silver Mercedes G-Wagon in scrubs and Vans sneakers. Coranne’s neighbor Lindsay liked to refer to him as “cutie patootie” or simply “our gorgeous neighbor.”

Chris Schulz: People would say, I think you’re moving to Los Angeles and I said, No I don’t think I am. Orange County is a big place. There are 3.2 million people who live here. It’s the same size as Phoenix, Scottsdale, Minneapolis, cities like that.

Justine Harman: This is Chris Schulz. He was the publisher of Orange Coast magazine—a luxury lifestyle publication that played a small but vital role in catapulting Dr. Robicheaux to semi-stardom when they named him “Bachelor of the Year” in 2013. Schulz became something of an O.C. historian after moving from New York over 25 years ago. He knows what people think about the place.

Chris Schulz: For better or worse, three TV shows came into existence in the early 2000s that put Orange County on the map. Again, better or worse. The O.C., Laguna Beach, and The Real Housewives franchise, which actually was the first one they ever did.

At least that gave it national visibility, but unfortunately it had a tendency to play up the vapid sort of high society or striving to be high society elements of Orange County.

Tamra: “I’m pint-sized, baptized, and highly prized”

Chris Schulz: Newport Beach has always been a very special place. It has always been a wealthy community. It really started as kind of weekend bungalows for people from Los Angeles, Pasadena, etc. That was a little bit of the genesis of a lot of the areas that grew up in and around Newport Harbor.

It’s always had some wealth there. But that being said, it is not a monolithic place. There are about six or seven very distinct communities within Newport Beach that all have a slightly different identity. That being said, it is probably the most of all of the towns in Orange County— and there’s wealth throughout many areas—the area of most conspicuous wealth. The largest houses. Bigger boats in the harbor. Living large lifestyle.

In 2014, the marketing department of Orange Coast, not the editorial department, um, basically dreamt up a promotion. It was an event. The event’s [NOTE: CUT weird noise at 1:05] primary theme and highlight of the evening was to do sort of a Bachelor contest. Essentially they found ten eligible bachelors from around the county, not even sure how it was done. The marketing director is no longer with the company. They found ten people and brought them together as part of an event that probably had around 100 people attending it. There was a very casually done contest that evening. They were sort of paraded around the crowd.

They spoke a little about themselves. Each of the people had a bio that was distributed to each of the attendees. Pictures were taken. And then, at some point in the evening, the attendees were asked to vote on who they thought would be Bachelor of the Year.

And this gentleman, Grant Robicheaux, Dr. Robicheaux, won the event. It was the first and only time I had ever seen this guy, but I do remember that he was a clearly successful person. Plastic surgeon in Newport Beach. He had a good smile. He was a handsome guy. And I was not surprised when the audience members chose him as the Bachelor.

That was the end of it. We never repeated the bachelor event in future years. And, frankly, we completely forgot about it until, you know, whenever it was, four years later when he was arrested, which made local and national news and suddenly people must have been doing Google searches. These old pages from Orange Coast magazine showed up. And that was what rekindled it. But we had never had any followup contact with Dr. Robicheaux. I never saw him again. And, frankly, I never heard his name mentioned or saw in writing until he was arrested.

Justine Harman: Despite the casual nature of the “Bachelor of the Year” title, Robicheaux used it to his advantage. The year after he was named “Bachelor of the Year,” he appeared on a short-lived Bravo reality series called Online Dating Rituals of the American Male.

Grant Robicheaux: I’m not looking for a party girl. I’m looking for a wife to raise a family with.

Woman: He’s, like, most eligible bachelor—

Grant Robicheaux: I just won the title of Orange County’s most successful and eligible bachelor.”

Justine Harman: Online Dating Rituals, which premiered on March 9, 2014, was billed as a docuseries that “unmasks the world of the booming online dating culture from the male perspective.” Producers had cast a wide net to find their All-American Sweetheart—and the 5’10” doctor with sparkling blue eyes, a swoop of golden-brown hair, and a comically chiseled chin was almost too good to be true. Footage of Grant was used in both marketing materials and a sizzle reel used to eventually sell the project to Bravo. In it, the orthopedic surgeon is portrayed as a successful Peter Pan living with his best friend Damien…and Damien’s beautiful girlfriend Tati, with whom Grant is not-so-secretly in love.

Online Dating Rituals of the American Male

Grant Robicheaux: Tati!

Tati: Hey, Grant.

Grant Robicheaux: How’s it going?

Tati: Good.

Grant Robicheaux: You look beautiful.

Tati: Thanks.

Grant Robicheaux: I am currently living with my best friend and his girlfriend, Tati. She’s smart, funny, and really sexy. My roommate is a really lucky guy. But he’s only lucky because he’s putting himself in the right positions.

Justine Harman: The episode description reads, “The truth is Grant is looking for someone just like him—perfect.”

Online Dating Rituals of the American Male

Grant Robicheaux: “I’m a planner. I’ve definitely always run my life from the blueprint. And that includes the exact right person for me.”

“I’m not just looking for a girlfriend for a week or a month. I’m looking for that partner for life. Social butterfly, sounds promiscuous. Someone who has the same morals and values that I do. I want to raise a family. I want to have kids. And I’m going to be more picky about this decision than any other one.”

Justine Harman: A member of the original casting team for Online Dating Rituals told me that the men on the show were meant to be a cut above the average reality beefcakes. “Those were not the jackasses you would typically see on a cable show,” she said. “We were allowed to have one personal trainer.”

But Grant failed to impress. He may have been her “All-American Sweetheart,” and the face of the series, but he lacked the capital-B Bravo personality. He wouldn’t say outlandish things or deliver the juicy soundbites that make a series memorable. “The network executives wanted him to have no filter,” she said. “But you don’t become a surgeon by having no filter.”

She remembered him as seeming “above it all” and cocky. He wasn’t “emotional,” she said. “The guy was just a snoozefest. I interviewed over 200 Los Angeles-based, successful-ish, professional bachelors. If you had given me all of their pitch cards and said, ‘One of these men is a rapist,’ Dr. Grant would have been in the BOTTOM five. Not because he’s innocent, but because he’s so blah.”

Justine Harman: Despite only airing for one season—and barely making a mark on the airwaves—Dating Rituals delivered on one promise: exposure.

In a blog posted to Bravo.com a month after his episode aired, Grant wrote that he had heard from hundreds of female fans via email, Facebook, and at his office. He wrote: “I still tinker with online dating some, but as you know, it can be a lot of work with little reward.”

What the series didn’t reveal is that Damien wasn’t just Grant’s best friend, roommate…or even the competition. As of April 2014, Dr. Grant Robicheaux and Dr. Damien Burgess, a chiropractor, were business partners.

NewportCare Medical Group, their joint venture along with spine surgeon Dr. Kasra Rowshan, was envisioned as a one-stop-shop for a variety of boutique physicians. Together the three doctors also created an LLC which they called RRB Investments, after their last names; Rowshan, Robicheaux, and Burgess. According to publicly filed documents, RRB was established as a “management company to handle medications, doctors, and representatives.” And, according to Rowshan and Robicheaux, the LLC generated over $600,000 in income its very first year.

That same year, in 2014, Dr. Robicheaux met his match: a married-but-separated dance instructor/part-time elementary school teacher named Cerissa Riley. Unlike Robicheaux, who moved to Orange County to complete his residency at the University of California—Irvine, Riley is from the area. She was born and raised in Brea, a suburb almost 40 minutes north of Newport that used to be known for the oil seeping from its mountains…and is now mostly known for its bigass mall.

By March of 2015, according to a 20-year-old woman known as Jane Doe #2, Grant and Cerissa were using Tinder to recruit women to party with them at the CRSSD music festival in San Diego. According to a brief filed by the Orange County District Attorney’s office on May of last year, Jane Doe #2 told investigators she consumed two alcoholic beverages before blacking out. She then woke up in a hotel room to find both Grant and Cerissa touching her. She says she “felt unable to move and passed back out.” And when she woke up again in the morning, “Robicheaux was having sex with her.”

In the next three years, Grant and Cerissa will be accused of working as a team to drug and assault six additional women.

They have plead “not guilty” to all counts.

Their lawyers have maintained that all sex acts and drug use were consensual.

That the case was manufactured by one District Attorney and his lead investigator and bungled by another.

That these victims are fame-hungry storytellers and opportunists.

Party girls who made bad decisions and desperately want to revise history.

 

Justine Harman: Over the course of this series we’ll to take you back to the beginning and trace every step of the way to one of the most sensational rape cases in recent history. You’ll get to know the defendants, the victims, the men and women whose job it is to shape the narratives around each, and the cracks in our criminal justice system reserved exclusively for those who cry rape.

And we’ll give you unprecedented access to the evidence.

You’ll hear conspiracy theories and testimonials.

Grant’s Mom: “Hi I’m Missy Guillot, and I’m here to tell you why Grant Robicheaux is who I’d recommend for any orthopedic problem.”

Justine Harman: Never-before-heard depositions –

 

Philip Cohen: Did you understand that your deposition today was not as Tony Rackauckas, a lay person, such as myself, but as Tony Rackauckas as your role as Orange County District Attorney?

Tony Rackauckas: I believe it would be a former role, so, I am who I am. I’m Tony Rackauckas, and I was the District Attorney. But I’m not now.

Justine Harman: …and follow along with the case as it unfolds in real time.

Jones: “I have read and reviewed the documents that have been submitted by the Defense and the People. It is my understanding, Mr. Zimmer, Ms. Stokke, that the people are taking the position that they have an irreconcilable conflict and that you are requesting that the court refer this case to the Attorney General’s office for further prosecution?

Justine Harman: Your faith in our institutions will be tested. The lines between fact and fiction may blur. And your allegiances will most certainly swing. But no matter where you come out in the end, there is one thing you must remember: You can’t spell lifestyle without “lies.”

Next time, on O.C. Swingers