Las Vegas judge sets trial date for Vince Neil on battery charge
Defense lawyers for Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil said Wednesday that they have launched their own investigation into an incident in which he is accused of roughing up a female autograph seeker outside the Aria.
Neil, 55, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of misdemeanor battery in connection with the April incident, his attorney, David Chesnoff, said after a brief arraignment hearing.
“We’re going to do our own investigation, which we’ve already started,” Chesnoff said. “As always, I ask people not to prejudge situations until all the facts come in and we understand the totality of the circumstances.”
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Cynthia Cruz set a Sept. 19 trial date.
TMZ posted a video of Nicolas Cage tussling with Neil after the actor reportedly tried to intervene during the April 7 incident.
The criminal complaint identifies the autograph seeker as Kelly Guerrero and accuses Neil of “pulling the victim’s hair and slamming her to the ground.”
In a federal lawsuit filed earlier this month, Guerrero, a nurse from Santa Cruz, Calif., alleged an “intoxicated” Neil pulled her by the hair to the pavement at the Aria entrance in front of Cage and Carrot Top.
Guerrero and her Santa Cruz lawyer, G. Dana Scruggs, are seeking more than $75,000 in damages from Neil for allegedly subjecting her to emotional distress in the presence of her 14-year-old son.
The rock singer’s actions are described in the lawsuit as “outrageous” and “intentional” and part of an “ongoing pattern and practice of drunken, out-of-control violent and dangerous conduct.”
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