Britney Spears' former husband Jason Alexander officially pleaded not guilty after attempting to crash the pop star's wedding last month. According to Page Six, Alexander, 41, was arraigned on the criminal complaint in Ventura County Superior Court, where he appeared from jail via Zoom, said Ventura County Senior Deputy District Attorney Erin Meister. He entered a not guilty plea on all counts, including one felony count of stalking with a prior domestic violence conviction and three misdemeanour counts of aggravated trespassing, refusing to leave private property, vandalism and battery.
Alexander was a childhood friend of Spears. He was married to the singer for two days in 2004 -- also faces a special enhancement charge because he was on probation for an unrelated case out of Tennessee at the time of his alleged crimes in California, as per Page Six. He denied the special charge allegation during Tuesday's arraignment. Alexander's next hearing is a pretrial conference scheduled for August 2.
He remains in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail and faces up to five years in prison if convicted, as per Page Six. Spear's ex-husband was held by deputies responding to a trespassing call, and he was arrested after they discovered he had a warrant out of another county, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. ALSO READ: Britney Spears’ ex who gatecrashed her wedding with Sam Asghari charged with stalking
At a hearing scheduled earlier, Alexander's bail will be reviewed. Matthew Terry, his public defender, did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. At the June 27 preliminary hearing, Alexander's public defender argued that the felony stalking count against his client should be lessened to a misdemeanor because there was insufficient evidence that he was there to harm Spears.
The judge disagreed and upheld the charges before ruling that Alexander would remain behind bars. Shortly after the ordeal, Spears, 40, was granted a restraining order against her ex and fired her security team. Spears was previously married to Kevin Federline from 2004 to 2007, with whom she had two boys, ages 14 and 15. ALSO READ: Britney Spears dated 13 men before marring her long time boyfriend Sam Asghari
In 2016, she met Sam Asghari while filming the video for her song "Slumber Party." Spears and Asghari married nine months after they became engaged, and nearly seven months after Spears earned her independence from a court conservatorship that had ruled over her life and affairs for more than a decade.
The following day, Spears announced the wedding on her Instagram and Twitter accounts. "Wow !!! Holy holy crap !!! WE DID IT !!! WE GOT MARRIED !!! Gggggeeeeezzzzz !!! It was the most spectacular day !!!" In the posts, Spears included a photo of herself and Asghari from the ceremony. "The ceremony was a dream and the party was even better !!!"
(ANI)
