Preliminary hearing postponed in Santa Cruz yacht overdose case

Defense attorneys for a woman accused of providing a Google executive with a fatal overdose on Monday filed a motion to compel.

Alix Tichelman, 27, faces manslaughter charges for the death of Forrest Hayes. Hayes was found dead on his yacht in Santa Cruz in November.

Police have alleged that Tichelman is a high-end call girl who injected Hayes with heroin. She was arrested in July after Santa Cruz police pretended to be a client trying to arrange a meeting with her.

Tichelman appeared in Santa Cruz County Superior Court Monday morning for what was scheduled to be a confirmation of her preliminary hearing. Instead, her defense attorneys sought a continuance, saying that the prosecution has not provided the defense with all of the evidence in the case.

Tichelman was caught on surveillance footage injecting Hayes with the drug. Police have characterized her as callously leaving Hayes to die, though prosecutors and defense attorneys have given different descriptions of her behavior.

Tichelman is due back in court Dec. 5. She remains in Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu of $1.5 million.

Outside court Monday, defense attorney Larry Biggam said his client didn’t call for help when Hayes overdosed because she panicked.

Gerald Christensen, Tichelman’s second attorney, says the death was an accident and not malicious.

Tichelman has pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter, great bodily injury and heroin possession.