Jailed porn star Ron Jeremy asks LA judge to break up his serial rape case into 21 separate trials

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Porn star Ron Jeremy is taking an unorthodox step of attempting to break up the case he faces for serial rape accusations into 21 separate trials for each of his accusers. 

Jeremy, 68, filed the motion via his attorneys on February 2. Judge George Lomeli has yet to rule on it as prosecutors have asked for additional time to respond to the request.  

The adult film actor, born Ronald Hyatt, said in the filing that his right to due process would be violated if there were one trial forcing him to answer questions from the various charges, which range from assaulting minors and digital penetration to drugging women for sex.  

‘Mr. Hyatt moves to sever the allegations related to each individual Jane Doe, so that separate jury trials would result for each one of the Jane Does,’ the motion reads.

The motion says the sheer number and varying nature of the allegations would require separate trials. 

Jeremy has been indicted on 30 charges for the alleged sexual assault and forcible rape of 21 women and girls, some as young as 15 years old, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced in late August. He has pleaded not guilty and has been held on $6.6 million bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles County since his arrest in June 2020.

‘The sheer fact that Mr. Hyatt will have to defend himself against 24 accusers and 25 incidents that took place over the course of nearly 40 years will necessarily mean that his defense to every charge will not be the same,’ the motion reads.

Lawyers for Jeremy cited two accusers who were underage at the time of their alleged attacks, one who said Jeremy digitally penetrated her at a rave when she was 15 and another who accuses Jeremy of raping her at 17.

‘Hearing that Mr. Hyatt had allegedly assaulted minor victims would make it hard for the jurors in this case to judge him fairly on the allegations that did not involve minors,’ the motion adds.

Jeremy’s legal team says that the same argument applies to accusations of drugging women for sex. 

‘The implication that Mr. Hyatt drugged or poisoned [the Janes Does] is prejudicial and highly likely to inflame Mr. Hyatt’s jurors,’ Jeremy’s attorneys wrote in the motion. 

‘Consequently, those allegations should be severed from the remaining counts.’ 

Attorneys Stuart Goldfarb and Kate Hardie argue that media coverage – including DailyMail.com pieces on Jeremy which cite his ‘oafish, goofball demeanor’ – could also sway a jury’s opinion.  

‘Here, it is clear from the prosecution’s November 8, 2021, briefing, replete with references to Harvey Weinstein, Rolling Stone magazine, YouTube, Daily Mail articles… that the prosecution seeks to try Mr. Hyatt not only in this court but also in the court of public opinion,’ the filing states.

‘Allowing Mr. Hyatt’s jury to hear about dozens of allegations of alleged misconduct will prevent his jurors from judging him fairly on each charged count and from scrupulously applying the burden of proof,’ his attorneys add. 

Jeremy did not speak at the hearing. He looked almost unrecognizable, with his lengthy brown hair now grey, a large beard and a mask. 

The actor, who has also appeared in several reality TV series, wore a brown jail uniform, which indicates that he’s in the medical ward, as he was during his last appearance in December.  

Goldfarb and Hardie objected to a photo request at the trial from a media member, citing their inability to get Jeremy to shave his beard.   

The judge denied the request, but added that he would allow photos at the next hearing.

Lomeil has said his ruling will wait until a follow-up hearing scheduled for March 3. 

Prosecutors allege Jeremy – born Ronald Jeremy Hyatt – restrained some of the women and raped or sodomized them – and had sex with others who were sleeping or unconscious. 

Jeremy, 68, pleaded not guilty to charges including 12 counts of forcible rape, seven counts of forcible oral copulation and six counts of sexual battery by restraint, DA George Gascón said in the press release.

He has been held on a $6.6 million bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles County since his arrest in June 2020, jail records show. He is scheduled to return to court on October 12 for a pretrial conference.

Jeremy was also charged with four counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object and two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious or asleep person. 

Further charges included one count each of lewd act upon a child under the age of 14 or 15, sodomy by use of force and assault with intent to commit rape. 

Gascón said Jeremy’s alleged sexual assaults happened over the course of more than 23 years and involved 21 victims ranging in age from 15 to 51.Jeremy is alleged to have sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl referred to as ‘Jane Doe 5’ on June 12, 2004, penetrating her with a foreign object, according to the August 19 indictment obtained by DailyMail.com.

Another girl, 17, was allegedly raped in 2008 at a home in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. She was referred to as ‘Jane Doe 22’ in the court documents.

Among the first allegations against Jeremy, prosecutors claim he raped a 19-year-old woman during a photo shoot in the San Fernando Valley in October 1996.

Later, Jeremy allegedly raped a 26-year-old woman at a party in a nightclub in Los Angeles County in October 2000, officials said.

The indictment alleges that Jeremy ‘unlawfully’ had sexual intercourse with ‘Jane Doe 19’ in 2000 by means ‘force, violence, duress, menace or fear of immediate and unlawfully bodily injury.’

Jeremy was also accused of sexually assaulting another woman at a strip club in City of Industry at some point between 2002 and 2003, officials said.

Another woman, 21, went to Jeremy’s home where she was allegedly sexually assaulted in 2010. She was referred to as ‘Jane Doe 23’ in the court documents.

In January 2013, Jeremy allegedly sexually assaulted a 38-year-old woman at a West Hollywood bar he frequented, officials said.

The most recent allegations stem from January 2020 when Jeremy raped and sodomized a woman identified in the court documents as ‘Jane Doe 17,’ the indictment claims.

‘Far too often, survivors of sexual assault suffer in isolation,’ Gascón said. 

‘We must ensure that survivors have all options available to help with recovery, including trauma-informed services for healing and support to report such crimes.’

‘If anyone was ever made to feel uncomfortable by ANY of our interactions, I’m deeply sorry,’ Jeremy told Rolling Stone at the time in response to the allegations against him. ‘That was never my intention and it breaks my heart in half.’