Evidentiary Hearing Set For Football Player Accused in Stabbing

A hearing that will determine whether a football player accused in the stabbing of a former teammate in Palm Desert will stand trial on attempted murder charges is set for later this month.

Jamie Smith – a 19-year-old transfer student from North Carolina A&T -- faces attempted murder and other charges in the at an apartment complex in the 77700 block of Country Club Drive in Palm Desert.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Thomas N. Douglass set the two-hour preliminary hearing for Jan. 24 at the request of Smith's LA-based defense attorney, Justin Sanders.

Mark McBride, a Beverly Hills attorney who is representing Smith along with Sanders, said more details about the night that led to Smith’s arrest and the end of his football career at COD would emerge throughout the course of the trial.

“He comes from a good family. He’s not a thug,” McBride said previously.

Prosecutors allege that Smith as involved in a fight when the victim slipped.

“The defendant continued after the victim and stabbed him multiple times on the upper body while the victim was on the ground,’’ he said.

The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment, according to sheriff’s investigators.

The fight apparently stemmed from a dispute between the classmates, sheriff’s officials said.

Coach Dean Dowty said Smith, who is being held in lieu of $1 million at the Indio Jail, was expelled from the team.