LOCAL : F. Lee Bailey Represents Accused Ex-Husband in Wayne Attack Case

Noted criminal defense attorney F. Lee Bailey showed up in Harbor Municipal Court today to represent Dr. Thomas A. Gionis, accused of masterminding the October attack against his ex-wife, Aissa Wayne, and her then-boyfriend, Roger Luby, in Newport Beach.

Authorities allege that Gionis, 35, a wealthy Pomona orthopedic surgeon, conspired with two armed men who attacked the couple at Luby’s Newport Beach estate. The prosecution alleges that Gionis was attempting to intimidate Wayne, with whom he was embroiled in a bitter custody dispute involving their 2-year-old daughter, Anastasia.

Gionis is being held without bond and his preliminary hearing is expected to last two days. Bailey, who refused comment, was retained Sunday by Gionis’ family, friends of the family said. He is substituting for Orange County attorneys Byron K. McMillan and Marshall Schulman after the Orange County district attorney’s office last week filed a motion to have them disqualified from the case because of conflict of interest. McMillan had given Luby advice in 1986 on an unrelated civil case.