The preliminary hearing for a Hollywood film producer accused of sexually abusing several women, including one in Santa Barbara County, began Tuesday in Santa Maria with a testimony from a nurse testifying about her physical examination of an alleged victim.
Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Karapetian named Sally Wilson first to testify against 54-year-old David Guillod, who has been charged on 21 sexual assault-related charges, including rape of a drugged victim and kidnapping. One of the sexual assaults allegedly occurred during a Santa Barbara County wine event in December 2014, according to court records.
Guillod, who has produced films such as “Atomic Blonde” and “Extraction”, is accused of raping five women between May 2012 and January 2015. He is also facing two improvements, including the commission of a violent crime. He has pleaded not guilty on any count.
The investigation began in 2017 and involved Sheriff’s Office detectives, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Santa Barbara and Los Angeles District Attorneys.
Sherman Oaks’ Guillod was charged on June 12, 2020 and an arrest warrant was issued the same day, but he surrendered at the Sheriff’s Office headquarters on June 22, 2020, according to court records. Two days later, he was released on $ 1 million bail.
A judge on Thursday dismissed a case against a Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office prison officer on charges of sexually abusing a female inmate after the defendant’s accuser died in a vehicle collision earlier this year.
Wilson, a nurse for the UCLA Rape Treatment Center in Santa Monica, conducted the physical examination of one of the alleged victims, identified in court as Jane Doe 2, the day after her alleged rape on the 22nd.
At the booth, Wilson gave testimony of their review process, which takes approximately four hours and includes an 8 to 10 page government-mandated questionnaire.
Wilson testified that the alleged victim had come to report possible drug use, recalling that the rape occurred between noon and 7 a.m. after dinner with Guillod, another actress, at a restaurant in the Los Angeles area and after the three had drunk at least two took place and a half bottle of wine.
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Phillip Cohen, Guillod’s attorney, asked Wilson how she remembered the details of the investigation and asked if she had an independent memory or if she was simply repeating details from her report written almost 10 years ago. Witnesses are allowed to see documentary evidence when refreshing their memories, but cannot read directly from reports.
“Even after reading [the] Report, you still don’t have a good memory, “Cohen said.
Wilson admitted having only vague memory of the exam until February when she viewed the video documentation she had taped and pointed out certain injuries such as bruises. Wilson, who has done about 1,000 checkups, said only half of them had injuries.
Cohen contradicted Wilson’s testimony several times, asking if she was really conducting an “investigation” rather than an investigation, and whether or not the alleged victim was truthful.
“We’re not investigators,” said Wilson, who is also trained in forensic testimony. “All I can tell you is that she came in and reported sexual assault.”
Cohen asked to remove two victim attorneys seated in the courtroom – attorneys Sophia Zoubul and Hannah Meropol with CA Goldberg, who represent four of the alleged victims – arguing that they could possibly be called as witnesses, despite Judge James Voysey not allowing them.
The preliminary hearing is slated to resume Thursday at 9 a.m. in Division 7 of the Superior Court in Santa Maria.
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