.

Courtney to Stand Trial

Judge sets November date for Love's assault trial

October 28, 2004 12:00 AM ET
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.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

prev
Music Main Next

blog comments powered by Disqus
Daily Newsletter

Get the latest RS news in your inbox.

Sign up to receive the Rolling Stone newsletter and special offers from RS and its
marketing partners.

X

We may use your e-mail address to send you the newsletter and offers that may interest you, on behalf of Rolling Stone and its partners. For more information please read our Privacy Policy.

Song Stories

“Time to Pretend”

MGMT | 2008

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”

More Song Stories entries »