Courtney to Stand Trial
Courtney Love will stand trial on a felony assault charge, a judge
ruled Wednesday during a preliminary hearing in a Los Angeles
courtroom.
The singer, who was present at the hearing, is accused of
striking local musician Kristin King with a bottle and candle at
the L.A. home of ex-boyfriend James Barber in April.
The court proceedings began around 11 a.m. with a motion by
Love’s defense lawyer Howard Weitzman to waive the preliminary
hearing, conceding there was enough evidence to reasonably presume
a crime had been committed, and move straight to trial. “This
process is to put this matter into the public eye and cause my
client potential embarrassment,” Weitzman added.
Despite Weitzman’s protests, Commissioner Sanjay T. Kumar
granted Deputy District Attorney Gina Satriano’s request for the
hearing. King, a petite blonde woman, testified that she had been
sleeping in Barber’s living room when Love arrived at the residence
in an agitated state. After arguing with Barber, King alleged that
Love entered the room she was in and assaulted her.
“She saw me asleep on the couch and picked up a Red Label bottle
of whiskey and dumped it all over me . . . and cussed me out,” King
testified. “Then she threw the bottle at the left side of my
face.”
King said that Love then threw a lit candle at her, sat on her
and dug her fingernails into her. (Love also allegedly chased after
King wielding a flashlight.) King further testified that the
incident left her with a chipped tooth and bruises on her face, arm
and breast. “[She was] very aggressive, angry, just vicious,” she
said of Love’s state during the incident. “She was erratic. It
didn’t seem like she knew what was going on. She was just being
crazy.”
During Weitzman’s cross-examination, King claimed that she knew
Love and Barber used to date and that King herself had engaged in
both a romantic and professional relationship with Barber. King
also confirmed that she had offered to settle out of court for
$90,000 after being approached by a member of Love’s entourage.
“Her drug counselor called us and said she wanted to resolve
this ’cause she was sorry,” King testified. “[I agreed to the
amount] reluctantly because there was no going rate for beating me
up . . . and so I could put this behind me. That was the number
that was my attorney [came up with].”
Love’s arraignment on the felony assault charge is set for
November 10th. She currently remains free on $150,000 bail.