Judge orders ex-ESPN commentator to stand trial

**gomez1012** Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:08 pm

http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_18372654?source=most_viewed

LOS ANGELES -- Former ESPN commentator Jay Mariotti must stand trial on charges he stalked, injured and assaulted his ex-girlfriend.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office said Tuesday that a judge found there is enough evidence for Mariotti to face the charges.

Prosecutors say Mariotti, a former Chicago Sun-Times columnist, grabbed the woman outside a Venice restaurant, pulled a chunk of her hair out and took her cellphone away while shouting at her.

He's also accused of confronting the woman Sept. 30, after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor battery count stemming from an August incident with her. In that plea, he was sentenced to 36 months of probation, community service and a domestic violence course.

Mariotti's lawyer, Shaw Holley, calls the allegations meritless and inconsistent with physical evidence in the case.