Lawyers for Alix Tichelman, the high-end escort accused of injecting a Google executive with a deadly dose of heroin, said at a hearing Monday their client "did what she was asked."
“My client Alix didn’t do anything to Mr. Hayes that he didn’t want to happen to him,” defense attorney Larry Biggam said. “She did what she was asked. Consensual adults involved in mutual drug usage. It went wrong but it wasn’t intended.”
The 26-year-old was in court in Santa Cruz Monday morning for a procedural hearing. In July, she pleaded not guilty to felony manslaughter and other charges related to the death of 51-year-old Forrest Hayes. Prosecutors say surveillance video shows Tichelman injecting Hayes with heroin on his yacht in Santa Cruz and then watching as he died.
Defense attorneys said Monday Tichelman had also injected herself, clouding her judgment. Biggam, said after the hearing that his client didn't call for help because she panicked.
Hayes died Nov. 23, 2013, and Tichelman was arrested eight months later on July 4.
Tichelman's attorney previously said she has no motive to kill because Hayes was a consistent customer.
Monday morning’s hearing was quick, but Tichelman’s defense used the occasion to hammer at the allegations.
Also still in question is the Georgia man associated with Tichelman, who also died of a drug overdose. Santa Cruz and Georgia police are looking to see if they can add murder charges to Tichelman’s file.
Tichelman’s lawyers want police to release the entire video captured on the yacht the day Hayes died. Right now, they say, they only have access to 20 minutes of the video. The video shows Hayes death was an “accidental overdose,” Biggam said.
Police, however, say computers seized at Tichelman’s home show she was on line doing research on legal defense strategies. Police say that shows she had been trying to hide something.
As it stands now, Tichelman could face a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
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Tichelman is facing eight charges in Santa Cruz County – including manslaughter, prostitution, destroying evidence and several related to administering and possessing heroin – in Hayes' overdose death. The father of five, who worked for Google at the time of his death, previously held positions at Sun Microsystems and Apple.
Another procedural hearing is scheduled for Dec. 5.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
