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'Clueless' Star Stacey Dash Pleads Not Guilty In Domestic Battery Case
Dash was charged after police were called to her New Port Richey, Florida home after reports of an altercation between her and her husband.
Stacey Dash has reportedly pleaded not guilty to a domestic battery charge and is opting to go to trial.
A lawyer for the 52-year-old actress entered the plea in Pasco County Circuit Court on Wednesday, according to court documents obtained by Yahoo News. Dash is requesting a jury trial, and plans to participate in the discovery process, the outlet reports.
Dash was arrested at her New Port Richey, Florida home Sunday night following an altercation with her husband, Jeffrey Marty. She is alleged to have “pushed” and “slapped” Marty, leaving “red scratch marks” on his arm, according to an arrest report obtained by Oxygen.com that does not mention Marty by name. However, in the 911 call that led authorities to respond to the couple’s home, Dash can be heard telling a dispatcher that her husband assaulted her after she got into an argument with his teenage stepdaughter, Page Six reports. She said that Marty put her into a choke-hold, which left scratches on her neck, and said he and his three children intentionally tried to get her arrested.
A man claiming to be Dash’s manager also claimed that Dash acted in self-defense in a statement obtained by PEOPLE, but Dash herself seemed to contradict his claim, telling the outlet in her own statement that what happened was a “marital dispute” that had been “blown out of proportion” by the media.
Following her arrest, Dash was released from the Land O’ Lakes detention center on $500 bail, according to Page Six.
While Marty has decided not to press charges against his wife, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office confirmed to Yahoo News that Dash’s case will still be subject to the review of the state’s attorney’s office, which will ultimately decide how to proceed. When contacted by the outlet, the office said that they had no comment on the matter.
As the case moves forward, Dash has claimed that she is unable to pay for her own legal representation, and has applied for indigent status. As such, she is currently being represented by a court-appointed attorney, according to Yahoo News.
Dash’s most notable role was in the 1995 hit “Clueless,” but she also worked as a Fox News contributor for a number of years before the network opted not to renew her contract in 2017. During her arrest, which was captured by an officer’s bodycam and published online, Dash can be heard telling authorities about her acting and political work, commenting at one point, “I’m an actress. I did a film called ‘Clueless.’”
“I did politics for a while. I was a Fox News contributor,” she added later.
Marty is Dash’s fourth husband. She opened up about being abused in her twenties by a past partner during a 2016 interview, and in addressing the recent battery claims against her, brought up her history as a survivor.
“Ms. Dash is a domestic abuse survivor from a previous relationship and has championed for other abuse victims to speak up,” reads a statement obtained by PEOPLE. “The untruthfulness being reported saddens Ms. Dash and her family — no further comments will be made and we ask that Ms. Dash and her family’s privacy will be respected.”
