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Britney Spears’s ex-husband Jason Alexander is headed to trial after being accused of breaking into the pop star’s home on the day of her wedding to Sam Asghari.
Following a two-hour preliminary hearing on Monday, Ventura County judge David Worley ruled that there is enough evidence in the case against Alexander that the charges against him can proceed to trial, according to the Associated press. The singer’s ex is currently in custody and has been charged with felony stalking, as well as misdemeanor counts of battery, vandalism, and trespassing. He has pleaded not guilty on all charges and his bail has been set at $100,000. In the days after the incident, Spears was granted a restraining order against her ex that orders him to stay at least 100 yards away from her at all times. After Alexander’s arrest, authorities discovered that he is also wanted on two outstanding felony warrants dating back to 2016, for grand theft and buying and receiving stolen property, in an unrelated case in Northern California. A Napa County Sheriff’s spokesperson told the San Fransisco Chronicle that Alexander will be extradited once he is released by authorities in Southern California.
On the day of Spears’s wedding, Alexander went live on Instagram as he wandered about her property, revealing some of the wedding decorations as the party planners continued to set up. In the clip, he can be heard yelling the pop star’s name and telling security and staff, “My name’s Jason Alexander. Britney invited me here. Britney Spears invited me here. She’s my first wife, my only wife. I’m her first husband.” Spears got married to her childhood friend in January 2004, eloping at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, but their marriage only lasted 55 hours. Spears’s assistant Vicky T later thanked fans for alerting her to the disruption in an update provided on her own Instagram Story, writing, “I’ve done everything I can while being out of the country to keep everyone safe. Thank you to all the absolutely amazing and incredible fans for alerting me of so much. You are blessings. Thank you. Everyone is safe.”
During the preliminary hearing, security guard Richard Eubeler also testified that Alexander had tried to break down Spears’s locked bedroom door, and that he and Alexander were face-to-face outside the door when Alexander realized it wouldn’t open, per Rolling Stone. “He started reaching into his right pocket. I drew my weapon and held it to my chest,” Eubeler said at the hearing, adding that Spears’s ex-husband had also been seen around her home in the days leading up to the wedding. As Alexander was told to leave, the security guard testified, Alexander screamed Spears’s name and said, “Fuck that, I’m going back the same way I came,” breaking a handle to a door that Eubeler was holding shut with his foot. Eubeler told the court that the singer was “very upset and wanted everybody to leave the property” in the aftermath of the incident, and even left her own home for awhile before coming back for her wedding. Rolling Stone reported that Ventura County detective Dylan Foley also testified, saying that Spears and Asghari left the home “to try to calm down” after Alexander’s arrest, and that Spears’s agent Cade Hudson told him she was “distraught, crying, shaking [and] panicked.” Deputy Sheriff Jose Torres also reportedly testified that, upon arresting Alexander, he found a “Gerber folding box cutter” among his things.
However, Alexander’s public defender Sandra Bisignani said at the hearing that her client had no plans to harm Spears. “Mr. Alexander’s intent was to talk to Britney, to check on her wellbeing, to make sure that this was what she really wanted, not to place her in fear,” she said, per Rolling Stone. But Judge Worley said that “It’s been established that he appears to be a continuing threat given the efforts he went through to insert himself into this event.” The judge set Alexander’s next court date for July 12.
Spears’s lawyer Mathew Rosengart previously said in a statement, “[I] look forward to working with law enforcement to ensure Alexander is aggressively prosecuted and hopefully convicted, as he should be. This was an outrageous security breach, which I am livid about, but fortunately Britney is safe and she was a stunning and happy bride.”
Originally published in Vanityfair.com
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