Thirty-year-old film actor Emile Hirsch will be making his first scheduled court appearance since being charged with assault for allegedly putting a studio executive in a chokehold while he was in Utah for the Sundance Film Festival. Hirsch was charged last month with aggravated assault and a misdemeanor count of intoxication. Aggravated assault is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. According to his attorney Robert Offer, Hirsch does not remember any of the events of that night (January 25, at a nightclub in Park City) due to excessive drinking. Offer added that Hirsch checked himself into rehab within days of the incident. The victim was Daniele Bernfeld, an executive for Insurge Pictures, a Paramount Pictures subsidiary. Monday’s court appearance in Park City is presumed to be brief. Hirsch is not expected to enter a plea to the charges.
