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Google PlayRick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland has been charged with felony domestic violence in connection with a 2020 incident involving a woman he was dating at the time, NBC News reports.
Roiland, who also voices the titular characters in the animated Adult Swim series, appeared in court on Thursday, January 12 for a pre-trial hearing. The 42-year-old voice actor, animator, producer, and writer was initially charged in May 2020 over the alleged incident, which happened on or around Jan. 19, 2020. Per the criminal complaint, Roiland was charged with one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud, and/or deceit.
He was arrested and released on a $50,000 bond in August 2020, but details regarding the case have not been publicly disclosed but it involves an anonymous Jane Doe who Roiland was dating. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in October 2020, and the case has had a number of court hearings since. There has not been a scheduled date for the trial, however.
A protective order was failed against him in October 2020, prohibiting him from harassing, threatening, or surveilling the alleged victim. He is also not allowed within 100 feet of the person, and the order is set to last until at least October 2023. During the pre-trial hearing on Thursday, his attorney said a plea deal is on the table.
Besides his work on Rick and Morty, which he co-creator with Dan Harmon, Roiland also co-created and stars in Hulu’s Solar Opposites. In 2007, he founded his own animation studio Justin Roiland’s Solo Vanity Card Productions, which has served as a production company for most of his projects. Other ventures include his video game development studio Squanch Games, which released comedic first-person shooter High on Life last month.
