Child psychiatrist trial postponed

As reported in the Palo Alto Daily News

The upcoming trial of Dr. William Ayres, the prominent San Mateo child psychiatrist facing allegations he molested seven pre-adolescent patients, has once again been postponed.

The jury trial, which was scheduled for June 23, won't take place until at least the end of July, San Mateo County prosecutors said Friday.

The ongoing drama behind the delay revolves around a defense motion to suppress all evidence acquired by search warrants that gave investigators access to Ayres' patient files. A Superior Court judge heard arguments Friday on the motion from both the prosecution and the defense, but he postponed a final decision until July 23, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

The motion potentially could handicap the prosecution's case, because each of the seven men who claim they were abused by the psychiatrist initially came to the attention of law enforcement through those patient records.

The defense motion calls on Judge Norman Gatzert to suppress evidence gathered from Ayres' patient files by charging that search warrants lacked probable cause and violated the state's psychotherapist-patient privilege.

The judge ultimately denied the defense contention that the warrants lacked probable cause but postponed ruling on whether the warrants violated the state's psychotherapist-patient privilege.

Defense attorney Doron Weinberg did not immediately return calls for comment Friday, but Wagstaffe said, "We are certainly very pleased that the court denied the first aspect of the motion, and we believe we put on sufficient evidence for him to deny the second part."

Should the judge sustain the second part of the motion, the prosecution could potentially lose the entire case against Ayres, Wagstaffe said.

The search warrant enabled authorities to confiscate files for some 800 of Ayres' former patients and contact those treated by Ayres since 1988 who were between the ages of 11 and 17 at the time. Investigators relied on the warrant to find seven men who claim they were abused by the psychiatrist.

Officials with the District Attorney's Office said they have spoken to several dozen men who claim they were abused by Ayres. But only seven fall within the state's statute of limitations on molestation crimes, which requires that charges be brought before the accuser turns 29 or that the alleged crime occurred after Jan. 1, 1988.

Many of Ayres' alleged victims appeared in court Friday to witness the hearing against the child psychiatrist, Wagstaffe said. Few victims were present during a December hearing when the defense first argued its motion before Superior Court Judge John Runde, the same magistrate who authorized the search warrant in 2006.

Runde summarily dismissed both defense arguments during that hearing, but a state appeals court ruled in March that the Superior Court judge didn't offer the defense a proper hearing and ordered him to hear the defense arguments in their entirety.

The court reassigned the case to Judge Gatzert on Friday, because Runde retired in December.

The judge is expected to rule on the second aspect of the defense motion and set a new trial date on July 23.