WEST HOLLYWOOD—On Friday, January 29, former national restauranteur Joshua Woodward, 43, was sentenced to 9 years in state prison for attempting to induce a miscarriage of his ex-girlfriend’s fetus six years ago.
On November 13, 2015 the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office announced that Woodward pleaded no contest to one felony count of attempted murder to LA County Superior Court Judge Curtis Rappe.
Woodward, a Florida resident, co-owned the former Table 8 restaurants in Los Angeles and South Beach. Canyon News reached out to Greg Risling, Public Information Officer for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, who confirmed Woodward was a co-owner of Table 8 restaurant located in Melrose.
On October 18, 2009, Woodward tried to induce the miscarriage by using a drug called misoprostol, which is used in the medical community to induce labor and terminate early stage pregnancies.
Risling told Canyon News that “the allegation in count one was that he put [misoprostol] in a Jamba Juice at first.” Evidence at the preliminary hearing revealed that he researched on the Internet to learn more about the drug and effective ways to administer it.
“He subsequently administered it vaginally during foreplay,” said Risling. “That is the more effective way, per the expert, to administer the drug.”
During the preliminary hearing, evidence additionally uncovered that Woodward attempted to induce the miscarriage on three other occasions.
Risling informed Canyon News that at the preliminary hearing there was no evidence presented as to positive test results for misoprostol on the three other occasions. It cannot be confirmed for certain if misoprostol was used on those occasions, but Risling does say, “The MO was the same, and the symptoms [the ex-girlfriend] experienced per our expert were all consistent with misoprostol exposure on all the occasions.”
Deputy District Attorneys Habib A. Balian of the Major Crimes Division and Marguerite Rizzo, Deputy in-Charge of the Forensic Science Section prosecuted the case. The case was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department.
By Berenice Famili and LaDale Anderson
