Rod Stewart assault case is 'very close' to reaching out-of-court resolution
Sir Rod Stewart is very close to reaching an out-of-court resolution for assault charges he is facing with his son, a US judge has been told.
The singer, 75, and his son Sean, 40, had been charged with simple battery over an alleged incident involving a security guard on New Year’s Eve 2019.
Both the star and his son had pleaded not guilty to assaulting Jesse Dixon at a luxury hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, and now their legal representative has asked for more time to settle the case, saying it is very close to being resolved.
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Guy Fronstin said in a pre-trial hearing that his clients just needed a little longer to address the accusations without needing to go to trial.
He told Judge August Bonavita: “We are very close to resolution, we are just not quite there yet.
“So if your honour would give us one more continuance, I think we will have it resolved by then.”
The judge agreed to set another pre-trial hearing date for 29 January, but warned that it would be Sir Rod’s final chance to avoid a jury.
He said: “The case is getting older.
“This will be a final pre-trial, so if it is not resolved at the next pre-trial, I will put it on the list for jury trial for both cases.”
Security guard Dixon alleges that Sir Rod and Sean assaulted him at the Breakers Palm Beach Hotel last New Year’s Eve.
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He says that they were part of a group who argued with him about not being allowed into a private party in a children’s area.
When they were asked to leave, they apparently “began to get loud and cause a scene”, before Sean got “about nose to nose” with Dixon.
The security guard says Sean pushed him, and then Sir Rod punched him in the ribs.
Wednesday’s hearing was conducted over Zoom.
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