Aissa Wayne

A state appellate court has settled several lingering issues in the conviction of surgeon Thomas A. Gionis for hiring thugs eight years ago to attack his former wife, Aissa Wayne, daughter of actor John Wayne. The appellate court had reversed Gionis' conviction in 1994 on the basis of improper testimony by an attorney and prosecutorial misconduct. But last year, the state Supreme Court tossed out the lower court's ruling.

Jerrel Lee Hintergardt was found guilty Monday on all eight felony counts in the attack on John Wayne's daughter Aissa Wayne and her former boyfriend in Newport Beach 19 months ago. Hintergardt, 38, of Burbank surprised law enforcement officials and even his own attorney when he admitted on the witness stand last week that he and another gunman approached Wayne and financier Roger W. Luby on Oct. 3, 1988, in the garage of Luby's estate and assaulted them.

In an apparent attempt to make it easier to win a conviction, prosecutors Thursday sought to amend the charges against Dr. Thomas A. Gionis, who is accused of masterminding the assault on his ex-wife--the daughter of John Wayne--and her then-boyfriend two years ago. "Obviously, the prosecutor wouldn't be doing this if he didn't think it would help him get a conviction," said William J. Kopeny, one of Gionis' attorneys.

Members of John Wayne's family gathered in Orange County Superior Court on Wednesday as the late actor's daughter, Aissa, began testifying about an assault against her and a former boyfriend. With Wayne's widow, Pilar, and another daughter, Marisa, in the spectator section, Aissa Wayne began her account of the stormy divorce and custody battle with her ex-husband, Dr. Thomas Gionis, who is accused of masterminding the Oct. 3, 1988, attack.

When Dr. Thomas A. Gionis goes on trial this week accused of ordering the 1988 attack on his ex-wife, Aissa Wayne, and her former boyfriend, the dramatic backdrop for the jury will be the couple's bitter custody battle over their 2-year-old daughter. But the most controversial prosecution evidence could be a few sheets of paper--the kind almost everyone gets in the mail each month from his or her telephone company.

Nearly three years after his conviction, surgeon Thomas Gionis was taken into custody to serve a five-year sentence for hiring two thugs to attack his estranged wife, the daughter of the late actor John Wayne. The arrest Monday came hours after a judge abruptly revoked Gionis' $2-million bail, which had kept him out of prison while he appealed his 1992 conviction. But the California Supreme Court dealt a critical blow to Gionis' hopes last week when justices tossed out a lower court's findings of improper testimony by an attorney and prosecutorial misconduct during trial.

A long-term custody hearing for 2-year-old Anastasia Gionis is scheduled for Wednesday. Temporary custody of the child was awarded to her mother, Aissa Wayne, after Wayne's ex-husband was accused of planning an assault on Wayne and a friend in October. Orthopedic surgeon Thomas A. Gionis, who had been awarded custody of his daughter, faces eight felony charges stemming from the assault. Aissa Wayne is the daughter of actor John Wayne.