Former ESPN commentator Jay Mariotti must stand trial on charges he stalked, injured and assaulted his former girlfriend.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said Tuesday that a judge found there is enough evidence for Mariotti, a former Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News columnist, to face the charges.
Prosecutors say Mariotti, also a former Chicago Sun-Times columnist, grabbed the woman outside a Venice, Calif., restaurant in April, pulled a chunk of her hair out and took her cellphone away while shouting at her.
Mariotti also allegedly confronted the woman last Sept. 30, the day he pleaded 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, Shawn Holley, called the allegations meritless and inconsistent with physical evidence in the case. Mariotti’s next court date is July 12.
Grabau, Marshall get head start at Wyoming.
Boulder High School graduate Riley Grabau and George Washington’s Tyrone Marshall are among the recruits signed by new Wyoming men’s basketball coach Larry Shyatt who have arrived in Laramie for offseason schoolwork and voluntary workouts.
Grabau, a 6-foot-2 guard, averaged 20.8 points as a senior and helped lead Boulder to the state championship game in Class 5A.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to have Riley joining our program. He embodies everything this program is about,” Shyatt said in April.
Marshall, a 6-8 forward, averaged 15 points, nine rebounds and six blocked shots as a GW senior.
NCAA rules prohibit Shyatt from attending the Cowboys’ pickup games until Aug. 22.
