But Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman, who is presiding over Hans Reiser's trial, warned attorney William DuBois that he was being argumentative in his aggressive cross-examination of Anthony Zografos, who started dating Nina in January 2006 and was in a serious relationship with her at the time she disappeared.
Hans Reiser, a 43-year-old computer engineer, and Nina married in 1999 but she filed for divorce in August 2004 and they had been undergoing bitter divorce proceedings for more than two years at the time she disappeared. She was 31 at the time.
Nina Reiser's body has never been found despite extensive searches, but Hans Reiser who has pleaded not guilty, was charged with murdering her after Oakland police said they found biological and trace evidence tying him to her death.
DuBois questioned Zografos, the director of operations for a medical equipment company, about messages he left on Nina's voicemail after she disappeared in which he said it would be OK if she had decided to go away for awhile because of the stress of going through the divorce and the couple's battles over their two children.
Zografos said, "I was hoping she had run away and had access to her voicemail."
But he added that he didn't really believe she had run away and was "desperately looking for some hope" that she might still be alive.
"You were basically lying to her then," DuBois said.
Zografos responded, "I was lying to her phone."
DuBois shot back, "It's not a lie if you lie to a voicemail?"
Prosecutor Paul Hora objected that DuBois was being argumentative and Goodman sustained the objection.
Goodman also sustained another objection by Hora when DuBois accused Zografos of being "insincere."
