Alex Zivojinovich, aka Lifeson, guitarist with Rush, is scheduled to stand trial May 16 on two third-degree felony assault charges stemming from an altercation with Collier County deputies at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida, on New Year's Eve 2004.

"I think it's (the case) going to trial," said Lifeson's defense attorney Jerry Berry to the Naples Daily News as he left the courthouse yesterday. The judge scheduled an April 27 hearing on the case, where a plea bargain could be accepted. Berry and prosecutor Rich Montecalvo refused to say whether or not they were conducting plea discussions.

The Naples Daily News has compiled an account of what happened on that fateful night:

Justin Zivojinovich, Alex's son, got onto the Ritz house band's stage. A band led by William Noll was performing alternating music sets with a band next to it led by Freddy Cole, the 71-year-old younger brother of the late, legendary Nat King Cole.

Noll, who was leading the house band, said in his sworn statement that the evening was going well until Justin and friends got onto the stage as his band was taking a break.

He said that after leaving the ballroom for a short time, he returned to hear a "litany of screaming and shouting" in the microphone, and someone had overtaken his band's congas.

Noll said that he saw three people on the stage, including Justin Zivojinovich, who was dressed in a white suit and was shouting into the microphone.

"Another man was in the middle of the stage dancing suggestively, sort of a semi-strip dance. The third was playing the congas, and my heart sank when I saw this irrational takeover of the stage," Noll said.

Justin Zivojinovich, Alex's son, became "verbally abusive" after he was asked to leave the stage, according to witness statements.

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