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Mayweather facing three felony charges
Mayweather facing three felony charges
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS -- Boxing trainer Roger Mayweather was bound over for trial Friday in Nevada on three felony charges alleging he beat and strangled a female boxer during a confrontation at an apartment he owned.
The woman, Melissa St. Vil, 26, was the only person to testify at an evidentiary hearing after which Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Pro-Tem James Gubler decided there was sufficient evidence to try Mayweather on coercion, battery-strangulation and battery causing substantial bodily harm charges. Mayweather could face three to 16 years in prison if convicted of all counts.
"He did this to me," St. Vil told prosecutor Megan Thomson after pointing to the 48-year-old Mayweather and viewing copies of four photographs taken at a hospital following the Aug. 2 altercation. The photos showed injuries to her neck, face and head.
Mayweather, a former fighter who trains his nephew, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., slouched at the defendant's table during the evidentiary hearing. He did not testify, and his lawyers, Jack Buchanan and Jim Kelly, chose not to call witnesses on his behalf. He remains free on $13,000 bail.
Mayweather at one point trained St. Vil, and he owned the apartment where she and Mayweather's tenant, Cornelius Lott, were living. St. Vil said Friday that Mayweather was angry that she was in the apartment when he arrived looking for Lott.
St. Vil said she called the police and hit Mayweather with a lamp. Before officers arrived, she said, Mayweather grabbed her neck from behind and choked her until she couldn't breathe, she felt her heart beat diminish, and she felt herself begin to lapse into unconsciousness. She said she later spit up blood.
Written police reports after Mayweather's arrest said officers found the front door open and saw Mayweather behind St. Vil in the kitchen with his arms around her as she struggled to get free.
The judge set arraignment for Jan. 26 in Clark County District Court.
Outside the courtroom, Buchanan said Mayweather will plead not guilty and challenge the charges against him.
At trial, Buchanan said he'll show that St. Vil started the scuffle, gave conflicting accounts to boxing reporters afterward, and hoped to use it to obtain a civil financial settlement.
Police had reported Mayweather had injuries on the head and the side of his face. Kelly said they were from punches thrown by St. Vil.
Under questioning by Buchanan, St. Vil testified she never punched Mayweather and that none of her injuries stemmed from a boxing match she won two days earlier, on July 31, against Jennifer Han in Las Cruces, N.M.
St. Vil, who told Thomson the fight took place in Mexico City, at first denied she was punched in the face or body during the four-round bout, but later said she remembered being punched in the shoulder.
She acknowledged that she received a bump on her head, but said it was from a head-butt.
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS -- Boxing trainer Roger Mayweather was bound over for trial Friday in Nevada on three felony charges alleging he beat and strangled a female boxer during a confrontation at an apartment he owned.
The woman, Melissa St. Vil, 26, was the only person to testify at an evidentiary hearing after which Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Pro-Tem James Gubler decided there was sufficient evidence to try Mayweather on coercion, battery-strangulation and battery causing substantial bodily harm charges. Mayweather could face three to 16 years in prison if convicted of all counts.
"He did this to me," St. Vil told prosecutor Megan Thomson after pointing to the 48-year-old Mayweather and viewing copies of four photographs taken at a hospital following the Aug. 2 altercation. The photos showed injuries to her neck, face and head.
Mayweather, a former fighter who trains his nephew, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., slouched at the defendant's table during the evidentiary hearing. He did not testify, and his lawyers, Jack Buchanan and Jim Kelly, chose not to call witnesses on his behalf. He remains free on $13,000 bail.
Mayweather at one point trained St. Vil, and he owned the apartment where she and Mayweather's tenant, Cornelius Lott, were living. St. Vil said Friday that Mayweather was angry that she was in the apartment when he arrived looking for Lott.
St. Vil said she called the police and hit Mayweather with a lamp. Before officers arrived, she said, Mayweather grabbed her neck from behind and choked her until she couldn't breathe, she felt her heart beat diminish, and she felt herself begin to lapse into unconsciousness. She said she later spit up blood.
Written police reports after Mayweather's arrest said officers found the front door open and saw Mayweather behind St. Vil in the kitchen with his arms around her as she struggled to get free.
The judge set arraignment for Jan. 26 in Clark County District Court.
Outside the courtroom, Buchanan said Mayweather will plead not guilty and challenge the charges against him.
At trial, Buchanan said he'll show that St. Vil started the scuffle, gave conflicting accounts to boxing reporters afterward, and hoped to use it to obtain a civil financial settlement.
Police had reported Mayweather had injuries on the head and the side of his face. Kelly said they were from punches thrown by St. Vil.
Under questioning by Buchanan, St. Vil testified she never punched Mayweather and that none of her injuries stemmed from a boxing match she won two days earlier, on July 31, against Jennifer Han in Las Cruces, N.M.
St. Vil, who told Thomson the fight took place in Mexico City, at first denied she was punched in the face or body during the four-round bout, but later said she remembered being punched in the shoulder.
She acknowledged that she received a bump on her head, but said it was from a head-butt.
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