Arraignment of BizRate.com Chief Delayed

Judge George H. Wu of Los Angeles County Superior Court postponed the arraignment of BizRate.com Chairman Farhad Mohit on felony drunken driving charges to May 31. Mohit, 32, has been free on $50,000 bond since his arrest Dec. 5 on two counts of driving under the influence. According to preliminary hearing testimony, a Range Rover driven by Mohit crashed into a tree on Wilshire Boulevard near the museum district, resulting in serious injuries to one of three passengers. Mohit pleaded innocent at his February preliminary hearing. During a brief session Thursday, Wu lifted an order preventing contact between Mohit and one of his passengers, Malak Malaekh, though an order against a second passenger remained in place. Separately, Mohit said he was unsure whether Los Angeles-based BizRate.com will go public this year. The start-up previously expected an IPO in the second quarter, but turmoil in the stock market has affected those plans. “We have to be ready and the market has to be ready,” he said. “Right now, neither is ready.”