Ron Jeremy Hearing Pushed to Aug. 4; Lawyer Seeks Victims' Names

LOS ANGELES—Following two delays when his attorney, Stuart Goldfarb, told prosecutors he needed the names of the women accusing longtime adult industry performer Ron Jeremy of sexual assault and misconduct, Jeremy appeared for a hearing Tuesday morning at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Downtown Los Angeles. Jeremy's previous court appearance came on January 11. But at the March 30 hearing, the dispute between Goldfarb and Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson continued, and the proceedings ended with Superior Court Judge Teresa A. Beaudet setting an August 4 date for Jeremy’s preliminary hearing. Prosecutors in the case, in which Jeremy faces 35 sex offense charges, have refused to hand over the names of the women.  The purpose of a preliminary hearing is for prosecutors to persuade a judge that they have enough probable cause to believe that a defendant committed the crimes he or she is accused of, that a trial is warranted. At the hearing, Thompson told the judge that the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office had already given Goldfarb 5,000 pages of discovery, that is, their evidence against Jeremy. Thompson said that the D.A.’s office had now agreed to turn over another 200 pages. But Goldfarb told the judge that he still had not received the information he said that he required to mount Jeremy’s defense. “Respectfully, Your Honor, I have never been given the names of the victims, or their addresses,” Goldfarb told the judge. “So we have 23 victims, and the district attorney’s policy has always been to turn over whatever evidence they have. They’ve taken the position that they don’t have to do that… So here I am, after my client’s in custody eight months, I don’t have the names or addresses of the victims or the witnesses.” Thompson responded by saying that the 5,000 pages of discovery already turned over was “more than adequate for a preliminary hearing,” adding, “the level of preparation we have to do at a probable cause hearing is different than what we need to do at trial.” Thompson told the judge that in his discussions with Goldfarb the defense and prosecution had agreed on a preliminary hearing date of June 3. But Goldfarb protested that he would not be ready by that date. Thompson said that pushing past that date would move the hearing into the July 4 weekend, when the prosecutor would be on vacation.  Jeremy, who turned 68 on March 12, has been held in jail since last June on $6.6 million bail. He faces charges in incidents ranging back to 1996, and as recently as 2020, according to prosecutors. His alleged victims range in age from 15 years old to 51.