A doctor accused in a murder-for-hire case made his initial appearance in Honolulu District Court yesterday dressed in the same short-sleeved shirt and beige slacks he wore when he was arrested Monday.

Dr. Dennis Ayon, 48, will remain behind bars in lieu of $1 million cash bail pending a preliminary hearing Tuesday.

Ayon is accused of conspiring to have the mother of his 4-year-old-son killed.

Harrison Kiehm, Ayon’s attorney, told the judge his client is not guilty and asked that the cash bail imposed on Ayon be reduced.

"He is not a flight risk," Kiehm said.

District Judge Gerald Kibe also had questions about the cash bail requirement. After discussing the matter with other judges, Kibe said he is not certain requiring bail be posted all in cash is permissible under the circumstances.

Deputy Prosecutor Daniel Kawamoto said his office would be amenable to raising the bail amount to $10 million, which would mean Ayon would still need to come up with $1 million cash to be released.

Kibe decided to keep the $1 million cash bail in place for the time being.

According to court documents, Ayon asked one of his patients to have the boy’s mother killed. Instead, the female patient contacted the boy’s mother on Monday, and Ayon was arrested at his Wahiawa office that afternoon.

The patient said Ayon was agitated and unhappy that he had lost visitation privileges for his son, court documents said.

Criminal solicitation is punishable by 20 years in prison. The boy’s mother is also seeking a restraining order to further limit Ayon’s contact with the son.

In a related matter, Ayon, through Kiehm, agreed to a request by the boy’s mother for a protective order that would require the doctor to stay away from his son until he turns 18. The condition is subject to further order of the court, meaning Ayon could ask for a change later, Kiehm said.

The agreement took place in Family Court in Kapolei after Ayon’s initial appearance in District Court in Honolulu. Ayon did not appear in Family Court.

Kiehm said Ayon wanted to spare witnesses on both sides the need to testify on the matter. Ayon agreed to the order without admitting any wrongdoing.

In the request for a protective order, the boy’s mother accused Ayon of abusing the child.

In 2007 a judge ordered Ayon to stay away from the boy’s mother for 10 years to prevent domestic abuse or recurrence of abuse.