Former Austin wealth manager may seek plea in California sex assault case, DA says

A former Austin wealth manager facing felony sexual assault charges after a luxury golf trip in California with "two high-profile friends" may enter a plea deal early next week, a prosecutor said Thursday.

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A preliminary hearing for David Walter Osborne, accused of attacking a woman last year in Pebble Beach, was set for Thursday but postponed and rescheduled for Tuesday "for a potential plea," said Monterey County Assistant District Attorney Lana Nassoura, who is prosecuting the case.

A plea deal would mean Osborne, the victim, investigators and potential witnesses would likely never have to appear before a judge.

Nassoura declined to elaborate on any plea negotiations. If a plea is not entered on Tuesday, she said, another preliminary hearing will be scheduled at a later date for the judge to decide if there is enough evidence to move to trial.

Defense attorney Lyn Agre of San Francisco did not respond to requests for comment.

Osborne faces charges of false imprisonment by violence, attempted forcible rape, assault with intent to commit a felony, and sexual penetration by a foreign object stemming from the May 2019 alleged assault at The Lodge at Pebble Beach.

Osborne, who has already entered a plea of "not guilty," could change it to "no contest" or "guilty" or a similar plea in exchange for a lighter sentence than he might face if found guilty in front of a judge or jury.

If that happens and a plea deal is struck, and it is accepted by the judge, the case could wrap up with no public testimony.

Osborne has been awaiting trial in Texas. Agre told Austonia in May that the charges are "baseless and should be dismissed outright." Last month, she told a judge that she planned to call witnesses from Texas, including a lab expert, for the hearing.

Thursday's hearing would have been the first public airing of evidence in the case, which has been shrouded in secrecy, protected by California law, since Monterey County authorities filed the charges against Osborne in May 2019.

They believe Osborne and his "high-profile" friends flew on a private jet that month and shared rooms at the lodge, an upscale resort nestled outside of San Jose in Northern California.

Authorities won't identify the two golf pals, and prosecutors have declined to say if they—or a second woman initially described as a victim but later dropped from the complaint—would be called as witnesses if hearings or a trial move forward.

Neither prosecutors nor police will discuss details of the case. It is unclear whether the two women referred to in the initial report flew in with Osborne or if he met them while in California.

Osborne was jailed in Austin on May 21, 2019, after Monterey County Sheriff's deputies flew to Texas to arrest him at his downtown Austin office. He posted bail the next day. He was 48 at the time.