Biofem Trial Stays Put

An Orange County Superior Court judge Friday denied a motion to move the Biofem attempted murder case to a courtroom elsewhere in the state.

The attorney for Los Angeles businessman Dino D’Saachs asked for the change of venue because of pretrial publicity.

Judge Francisco P. Briseno denied the motion without prejudice, meaning the defendant can make the request again. Briseno set July 7 as the time a trial date will be set.

D’Saachs, 56, has been charged with driving the getaway van in the shooting Feb. 28 of James Patrick Riley, the CEO of Biofem Inc. D’Saachs was a close friend of the firm’s co-founder, Dr. Larry C. Ford, who investigators suspect was behind the unsuccessful assassination attempt. Ford shot himself to death three days later, after police searched his Irvine house.

More than 200 of Ford’s neighbors were evacuated as police dug up illegal weapons and explosives at Ford’s home. Detectives also found germs that cause typhoid fever and cholera in jars in Ford’s refrigerator.

D’Saachs has pleaded not guilty.

Detectives searched his house and found a manual on executing a hit and photographs of Riley, his home and business.

The shooter, dressed in black, fired a pistol at Riley as the executive got out of his car. The bullet smashed Riley’s cheekbone and traveled through an office window.