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Rick and Morty co-creator and star Justin Roiland charged with felony domestic violence in a 2020 incident with an unidentified girlfriend
- Justin Roiland, 42, was charged with two counts of felony domestic violence.
- The charges stem from an incident with an unidentified girlfriend in January 2020.
- He previously pleaded not guilty and has been out on bail as the case progresses.
- The charges were not reported publicly until he appeared at a hearing on Thursday.
Justin Roiland, 42, was charged with felony domestic violence in 2020, a case that had not previously been reported
Justin Roiland, who co-created and stars in the hit animated series Rick and Morty, has been charged with felony domestic violence in connection with an incident that occurred in 2020.
Roiland, 42, appeared in an Orange County, California, court Thursday in connection with the case, after pleading not guilty to felony domestic assault with bodily injury and false imprisonment.
The criminal charges, first filed in May 2020, had not been previously reported. nbc news first reported the case, citing a copy of the criminal complaint.
According to the complaint, the charges stem from an incident around January 19, 2020, when a woman Roiland was dating, identified only as Jane Doe, made the allegations against him.
Many of the documents in the case remain sealed, including the police affidavit supporting Roiland’s arrest, as well as police body camera footage and investigative reports.
Rick and Morty co-creator Roiland appeared in an Orange County, California court Thursday in connection with the case.
Roiland voices the two main characters in Rick and Morty, mad scientist Rick Sanchez and his grandson Mortimer Chauncey ‘Morty’ Smith, Sr.
Roiland was apparently arrested in August 2020 and released on $50,000 bail.
He was charged with felony domestic battery with bodily harm and felony false imprisonment by threat, violence, fraud and/or deception.
He pleaded not guilty to both charges at an October 2020 arraignment, and the case proceeded through the court system without attracting public attention.
Under a protection order filed in October 2020, Roiland was ordered not to harass, threaten, or monitor the person named in the protection order, whose name does not appear in public court documents.
Roiland was also prohibited from coming within 100 feet of the person named in the order, and was required to surrender any weapons he may have owned or possessed. The protective order runs until October 2023.
Rick and Morty co-creators Justin Roiland (left) and Dan Harmon are seen in a file photo.
Roiland is best known for his work on the Adult Swim animated series Rick and Morty, which he co-created with Dan Harmon.
On the show, Roiland voices the two main characters, mad scientist Rick Sanchez and his grandson Mortimer Chauncey ‘Morty’ Smith, Sr.
A representative for Adult Swim, which shares cable space with Warner Bros. Discovery’s sister channel Cartoon Network, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on Thursday afternoon.
Developing story, more to follow.