FILE - In this Aug. 6, 2013, file photo, Nathan Louis Campbell, 38, a transient from Colorado, enters Los Angeles Superior Court, in Los Angeles. A judge who has heard from multiple victims of a Venice Beach boardwalk auto rampage is set to consider final arguments Wednesday Jan. 8, 2014 and rule on whether Campbell, will stand trial on allegations that he plowed through crowds last summer, killing a newlywed woman and injuring others. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
January 08, 2014 - 11:34 AM
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - A Los Angeles judge has ruled that the driver of a car that plowed through crowds of tourists at Venice Beach last summer will stand trial on charges of murder, assault and leaving the scene.
The judge ruled Wednesday after arguments from the prosecution and defence in a preliminary hearing of the case against 38-year-old Nathan Campbell.
Campbell will face one count of murder, 17 counts of assault with a deadly weapon and 10 counts of leaving the scene. Seven counts were dropped.
Campbell's lawyer claims it was an accident. Victims testified that the driver seemed to intentionally aim at tourists and vendors at the famous Southern California tourist spot.
Thirty-two-year-old Alice Gruppioni, a honeymooning newlywed from Italy, was killed and 16 other people were injured.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014