Jury ends day mulling MMA fighter-porn star case in Vegas
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A jury in Las Vegas spent a full day deliberating Friday whether the former mixed martial arts fighter named War Machine is guilty of charges that could get him life in prison in an attack on his porn star ex-girlfriend and her male friend in August 2014.
Jonathan Paul Koppenhaver could face life in prison if he's found guilty of the top charges of attempted murder, kidnapping and sexual assault in the violence that jurors were told left Christy Mack and Corey Thomas bloodied and injured.
But those are just some of the 34 charges the state court jury is considering.
Koppenhaver's defense attorney took the unusual step Thursday of conceding Koppenhaver's guilt on eight domestic battery charges for punching and injuring Mack and using a knife.
The Associated Press doesn't usually identify alleged victims of sexual assault, but Mack gave AP permission to use her name. Her legal name is Christine Mackinday.
Attorney Jay Leiderman told the jury that Koppenhaver also is guilty of threatening Mack's boyfriend at the time, Corey Thomas, to dissuade him from going to police.
Convictions on those nine felony counts alone could get Koppenhaver decades in state prison. Other charges include coercion and burglary.
Koppenhaver, 35, legally changed his name to War Machine during his 19-fight MMA career that ended in 2013. He has gone by his birth name since his arrest a week after the alleged attack.
He did not testify during his two-week trial.
Mack, 24, spent eight hours on the witness stand, telling the jury she was beaten and raped by Koppenhaver in the months before his confrontation with her and Thomas.
Thomas testified that he suffered a broken nose, dislocated shoulder, scrapes, bruises and bite marks in a bedroom brawl with Koppenhaver.
The jury saw photos of Mack with a broken nose, missing teeth, fractured eye socket and leg injuries, and she testified that she also suffered a lacerated liver.
Deliberations resume Monday.