In a pre-trial hearing at the Arlington Circuit Court yesterday, the next hearing date for the trial of Falls Church resident Michael Gardner on charges of sexual abuse of a minor was postponed until Jan. 15, and a motion by the prosecution to introduce evidence based on a secretly-taped phone call from Gardner’s wife, former Falls Church Mayor Robin Gardner and the father of the alleged victim of the assault, a relative, was disallowed for use in the trial by Judge Louise M. DiMatteo, who listened to the tape but declared it was “hearsay.”

While a D.C. TV news report claimed the phone conversation suggested that Robin Gardner “apparently admitted that her husband has admitted to the crime,” Robin Gardner issued a brief statement to the News-Press late yesterday saying, “I fully support Michael and believe he is innocent.”