Rick James, Girlfriend Ordered to Stand Trial
Rock singer Rick James and his girlfriend were ordered Thursday to stand trial on charges that they tortured a woman with a hot cocaine pipe and a knife and forced her to have sex at James’ home in the Hollywood Hills.
James, 43, and Tanya Anne Hijazi, 21, are to be tried in San Fernando Superior Court on charges of aggravated mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon, torture, false imprisonment and forced oral copulation of Hijazi. They face life imprisonment if convicted of all counts.
San Fernando Municipal Judge John C. Gunn acknowledged from the bench that there were many inconsistencies in the testimony of the alleged victim, but he said testimony by James’ maid Dinorah Zumbado was enough of an independent account to warrant a trial.
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