SANTA ANA, CA- This past Tuesday morning, Orange County judge Cheri T. Pham set both a final pretrial and jury trial date for the assault case against BJJ black belt Ralph Gracie. The development occurred after a hearing in the Orange County Superior Court House which Gracie failed to attend and whose defense attorney failed to offer a plea.
“We went to the courthouse expecting this to be resolved,” said Gracie Barra’s Head of School Development for North America Dave Weber in a statement to the JJT. Joined by GB NA Executive Director and alleged victim Flavio Almeida, the two hoped the hearing would end a two year legal battle under more agreeable circumstances.
Famously caught assaulting Almeida on video at the 2018 IBJJF No-Gi Championships, the incident arose due to a business/territory dispute between the two school owners according to statements from Almeida. The resulting charge of felony assault with intent to produce great bodily injury against Gracie and his response has led to the delays of resolution.
Should the case go before a jury, Gracie has the potential to face maximum sentencing and serve seven years in jail. The original deal offered by the DA and the court would have him serve six months jail time, three years of formal probation, and an undisclosed form of financial restitution according to Weber. This is a deal Gracie has rejected in the past, as was reported here at the JJT.
Weber gave the following statement in a JJT exclusive interview:
“These criminal proceedings have been occurring for almost two years at this point. We went to the hearing yesterday hopeful for a resolution. Though we didn’t get that resolution, we’re pleased that an official jury trial date has been set. It seems the defense strategy is to delay, delay, delay in order to test our resolve. They should know that we will see this through to the very end when justice is served,” Weber said.
The pretrial date is set for December 8, and the jury trial date will be February 16.
The JJT will continue to follow this story as it develops.
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