A San Diego judge ruled on July 29 that there is enough evidence to move forward with a criminal trial against actor-comedian Faizon Love, who prosecutors and police accuse of ripping a credit card reader off its mount and throwing it at an hotel clerk, making contact with the side of her head and breaking her glasses, last August.
Judge Rohanee Zapanta heard nearly a full day’s testimony during a preliminary hearing, before ruling that Love would stand trial. Prosecutors charged him with felony assault with a deadly weapon, reports 7 San Diego. The charge has an enhancement as a result of the grave bodily injury to the alleged victim, who hasn’t been revealed.
Love, known for his roles in Friday, Elf, The Replacements, and Couples Retreat, has pleaded not guilty. A public defender represented him previously, but Love has since retained criminal attorney Marc Kligman.
The whole debacle allegedly kicked off when Love became enraged after the clerk informed him that the hotel didn’t have any vacancy, even though he had booked accommodations on a third-party app, according to the alleged victim’s testimony Tuesday. She testified that she and two coworkers tried in vain to calm down Love.
“Mr. Love was extremely upset. It was zero to 100 real quick,” the woman told the court, according to 7 San Diego. “He was repeatedly asking if we knew who he was.”
After the clerk told Love that she’d had enough of his behavior, she testified, “Mr. Love looked directly at me, pulled the credit card machine off and threw it [in] my direction.”
The woman also explained to District Attorney Jena Scarborough that she went to the hospital several hours later. She said she suffered a concussion and still deals with lingering health issues, including a sensitivity to light, from the alleged assault.
However, Kligman, Love’s attorney, got the woman to acknowledge that her testimony Tuesday was different from what she told the 911 operator and responding police officers last August. The discrepancies included the severity of her injuries and whether she thought Love aimed at her specifically.
In addition, Kligman also used San Diego Police Department body camera video to get one of the alleged victim’s coworkers to admit that he didn’t actually see the device strike the woman, as he had testified earlier. The attorney also highlighted differences in the other coworker’s testimony.
Kligman said “the insufficiency of the evidence and credibility of the witnesses” should give the court pause. And during closing arguments, he also posited that money more than justice motivated the woman.
The woman has filed a civil lawsuit against Love for money to pay for her medical bills, as well as, for the physical and emotional pain she claims she has suffered.
“I think there’s quite a bit of motivation for her to make this up, to exaggerate,” Kligman told the court.
However, Judge Zapanta ruled there was enough probable cause that Love’s charges were true. He was immediately arraigned. The court set a trial date for January 2026. Faizon Love faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison if convicted.
