Las Vegas judge binds Roger Mayweather over for trial

By Tiffany Gibson

Published Friday, Jan. 15, 2010 | 12:10 p.m.

Updated Friday, Jan. 15, 2010 | 12:49 p.m.

The case against Roger Mayweather, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s uncle and trainer accused of beating up a 26-year-old female boxer, was bound over for trial on Friday.

At a preliminary hearing this morning, the alleged victim, Melissa St. Vil, testified that Mayweather, 48, entered her apartment in the 700 block of Rock Springs Drive, near the intersection of Washington Avenue and Rainbow Boulevard, and started a physical altercation that left her bruised and in severe pain.

Mayweather was arrested after the scuffle but is no longer in custody. He is charged with coercion, battery-strangulation and battery with substantial bodily harm.

St. Vil testified Friday that Mayweather was her landlord and let himself into the apartment on Aug. 2, 2009, to see when she would be leaving. She said she was going to leave with one of her two roommates, who are boxers trained by Roger Mayweather.

She said she trained with Mayweather for five months and has been boxing since she was 18.

She testified that Mayweather started the scuffle when he grabbed the front of her shirt and pushed her against a wall. She said she never punched him.

“I pushed his shoulder to get him away from me,” she testified. “He balled his fists up and started punching me in the face and then the ribs.”

The altercation continued into the kitchen, St. Vil said, as Mayweather kept punching her in the head. She said she grabbed a lamp on a table and struck him over the head with it before calling 911.

"He said, 'You think you’re a man? Well, I’m going to beat your (expletive) like one,'" St. Vil testified.

She said Mayweather then began choking her from behind with one hand and punching her in the head with his fists.

“My heart and breathing was slowing down,” St. Vil said. “I was losing consciousness. It was fast and aggressive.”

St. Vil was treated by paramedics at the scene and taken to MountainView Hospital for treatment. She said doctors released her from the hospital within two hours.

The day after, St. Vil said, she left Las Vegas and flew to New York, where she received medical treatment. Two months later, she said she’s still in pain from the alleged attack.

Mayweather’s attorney, Jack Buchanan, questioned St. Vil on whether she had received any injuries in a fight in New Mexico two days before the alleged attack. St. Vil said she was headbutted during the fight but was never punched in the face. She said she suffered a few punches to her shoulders.

After her testimony, Buchanan argued that the charge of coercion should be removed because St. Vil testified Mayweather didn't prevent her from calling police.

Prosecutor Megan Thomson said the coercion charge is still necessary because Mayweather tried to force St. Vil to leave the apartment unwillingly.

Justice of the Peace James Gubler ruled that Mayweather will face all of the original charges at his arraignment at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 26 in district court.

Buchanan said he plans to file a habeas corpus petition to challenge the charges. As of now, he said, the case will move forward with the arraignment, where Mayweather will plead not guilty and the case will go to a jury trial.