Victims Testify During Koppenhaver Preliminary Hearing

LAS VEGAS, Nevada—Jonathan “War Machine” Koppenhaver sure has one warped sense of humor. According to news accounts from Friday’s preliminary hearing in Las Vegas, during which Koppenhaver’s victims took the stand to testify about the severe beatings they endured August 8 at the hands of the former mixed martial artist and porn star wannabe, Koppenhaver apparently laughed when his former girlfriend, Christy Mack, was asked a particularly sensitive question while on the stand. According to coverage by KLAS Las Vegas, the exchange went as follows: Prosecutor: "Was there sexual violence?" Mack: "Yes." Prosecutor: "Judge I would like the record to show that Mr. Koppenhaver is laughing and shaking his head." Defense: "Objection, He wasn't laughing." Justice: "I watched him laugh." Not the best way to endear oneself to the court, perhaps, but neither is such behavior unknown for the deeply troubled Koppenhaver, who attempted suicide while in jail last month, and will now face two additional charges when he goes on trial in Las Vegas District Court. According to the Las Vegas Sun, “War Machine… was facing 32 counts including attempted murder and sexual assault with a deadly weapon. He now faces two additional counts including sexual assault and battery with substantial bodily harm, Judge Melanie Andress-Tobiasson ruled. Koppenhaver will have to stand trial on all 34 charges.” Both Mack and her friend Corey Thomas, who was at Mack’s home when Koppenhaver arrived unannounced, testified, according to the Sun, that when Koppenhaver entered Mack’s Las Vegas apartment in the early hours of Aug. 8, he “turned on the lights and found the two in bed together. They said that is when Koppenhaver began to attack Thomas, who testified that he suffered a dislocated shoulder, broken nose and additional injuries as a result of the incident. “Mack said Koppenhaver allowed Thomas to leave before beating and sexually assaulting her,” reported the paper, adding, “She told the court she suffered a broken nose, shattered eye socket, lacerated liver, left leg injury and dental damage.” The paper adds that defense attorney Brandon Sua intends to enter a plea of not guilty on behalf of his client, who “is next scheduled to appear in court Nov. 20 at 1 p.m. in this case, though he also has a separate parole violation case.” Koppenhaver, adds the Sun, “has denied attacking Thomas, insisting he acted in self-defense.”