(CNS) Posted Thursday August 26, 2010 - 3:39pm
A woman accused of hitting actor Leonardo DiCaprio with a glass during a 2005 party in the Hollywood Hills was ordered today to stand trial on a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Edmund Willcox Clarke Jr. rejected a motion by defense attorney Freddy Sayegh, who contended there was insufficient evidence to require Aretha Wilson, 40, to proceed to trial.
"This would not be an injury that would be called trivial or moderate in my view,' the judge said after reviewing three eight-by-10-inch photos detailing the injury to DiCaprio's ear and neck following the alleged attack on June 17, 2005.
The actor was not called to testify during the hearing at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse.
The only witness called by the prosecution, Eustace Hicks, told the judge that he and DiCaprio were leaving the party with another friend when Wilson began cursing at the friend before striking DiCaprio.
"She hit him with a wine glass ... It appeared to be in his face ... his neck and ear area,' Hicks testified.
"She keeps the glass in her hand.'
"Aretha hit him hard,' the prosecution witness testified, when asked how hard DiCaprio was struck.
Others at the party tried to move Wilson away from the actor, Hicks told the judge, noting that there was "an extreme amount of blood' in the area.
DiCaprio was taken to the nearest hospital to get stitches, according to Hicks, who testified that he met DiCaprio when the actor was 16 and considers him a good friend.
The assault charge includes an allegation that Wilson personally inflicted great bodily injury on DiCaprio.
Wilson's attorney noted that DiCaprio wasn't in court to address the issues of pain or any medical care he had to undergo, and said he believed that the prosecution had "failed to provide any evidence whatsoever' to substantiate the claim of great bodily injury.
Deputy District Attorney Hilary Williams countered that the "unprovoked' attack caused "severe wounds' to DiCaprio.
The judge agreed that the injury was "serious,' saying "it would be an unnatural man who would feel no pain' as a result.
Wilson, who remains jailed on $150,000 bail, was recently extradited from Canada in connection with the charge. She is due back in court Sept. 9 for arraignment.
If convicted, she faces a maximum of seven years in state prison, according to the District Attorney's Office.
