COUNTYWIDE : Gionis Suit Claims Lawyer Libeled Him

Dr. Thomas A. Gionis, accused of arranging an attack on his ex-wife, the daughter of actor John Wayne, filed a $10-million libel suit Monday against her attorney, contending that he made false remarks in a local magazine to bias the jury in Gionis’ upcoming assault trial.

The lawsuit stems from Gionis’ bitter custody battle with Aissa Wayne over their 2-year-old daughter. The 35-year-old Pomona surgeon lost custody of Anastasia Pilar Gionis in April, after his arrest on charges of masterminding the attack on Wayne and her then boyfriend, Roger Luby.

Gionis’ lawsuit, filed in Superior Court in Santa Ana, was sparked by E. Robert Lemkin’s comments in the November issue of Orange Coast magazine.

Lemkin, a Santa Ana lawyer who represents Wayne in the custody case, told the magazine that he has learned that “it is not in the child’s best interest to spend any extended time with the doctor.” Lemkin did not elaborate.

Lemkin, who was described by the magazine as “the patriarch and the godfather of Orange County’s divorce attorneys,” could not be reached for comment Monday on Gionis’ lawsuit.

Gionis said in his lawsuit that the Lemkin statement is libelous because it “causes all readers to believe that the plaintiff is an unfit father and should not spend time with his own child for the child’s own safety and welfare.”

Lemkin’s comment “causes all readers to believe that the plaintiff is not to be trusted with small children, not even his own, and therefore (is) an unfit doctor to practice medicine on children,” the lawsuit said.

Lemkin made that comment “in an attempt to sway the general public, especially potential jurors” in Gionis’ assault trial, the suit said.

Gionis’ trial is expected to begin in February. He is charged with paying for two men to attack Wayne and Luby in the latter’s gated Newport Beach home in October, 1988. Gionis has denied involvement in the attack.

In the suit filed Monday, Gionis seeks $5 million in compensatory damages for “loss of his reputation, shame, mortification and hurt feelings” and $5 million in punitive damages.