A domestic abuse conviction can land you with some serious penalties, but nothing quite as severe as what a professional fighter is currently facing. Jonathan Koppenhaver, also known as the MMA fighter “War Machine” appeared in a Las Vegas courtroom on yesterday, where he was advised of the whopping 32 total felony charges against him.
Mr. Koppenhaver is facing charges of attempted murder, domestic battery by strangulation, first-degree kidnapping and sexual assault, stemming from an alleged incident involving his ex-girlfriend. He would be in enough trouble for just the domestic battery charges, but when you add all the other ones into this legal equation then it is a totally different story. All of these charges has him facing the possibility of life in prison.
The shocking details of the incident blew up all over social media last month. As for the eyewitness of the attack, a male friend of the ex-girlfriend was at her residence in the early morning hours of August 8 when the attack took place. The eyewitness claims that Koppenhaver threatened the woman’s life with a knife.
Of course, the details in this case are horrible and sickening, but the man does have the right to defend himself against these horrific accusations. Not helping his case is the fact that he has a criminal past. In Las Vegas in 2012, he was convicted and served time for an attempt to commit battery with substantial bodily harm. His defense team has their work cut out for them. Unless some other evidence pops up proving his innocence, he is looking at decades in prison.
