Christy Mack is ready to face War Machine in court. But War Machine may be looking for time to cut a deal.
The former porn star, who police say was brutally beaten by her MMA-figher ex-boyfriend Jonathan Koppenhaver — AKA War Machine — was slated to testify against him in a hearing tomorrow. But Koppenhaver’s attorney is asking for more time.
Koppenhaver’s defense lawyer, Brandon Sua, asked Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melanie Tobiasson for more time to put together what he called “a plea deal to resolve the case … without further litigation and pretrial proceedings.”
Chief Deputy District Attorney Jacqueline Bluth said Mack and her friend Corey Thomas, who was also allegedly beaten by Koppenhaver, are ready to testify now. But she added that “the state is always willing to take into consideration any information the defense would like to present.”
Koppenhaver’s attorneys say that some of the charges he is up against now are not even related to the assault on Mack and Thomas, but are from 15 months prior.
In the end, Tobiasson postponed Friday’s hearing for another month, leaving Koppenhaver to cool his heels in the Vegas jail without bail while his legal team reviews the charges against him.
But the prosecution was wary of the postponement. They stress that this had better not be an attempt by the defense to wait the victims out and hope they heal up and grow weary of fooling with the court proceedings. This is commonly called “icing the victim”.
“It is not going to work,” Bluth said. “The victim is always going to be cooperative with us. Both victims in this case want to get this process going.”
Koppenhaver has to weigh his options carefully. He faces over thirty years in prison if all his charges stick and result in a conviction. Those include attempted murder, sexual assault, battery, coercion, preventing or dissuading a witness or victim from reporting a crime, and first-degree kidnapping resulting in substantial bodily harm.