Always on Time

Ja Rule was in Toronto this summer shooting a remake of the film Assault on Precinct 13, but Toronto prosecutors claim that the rapper took part of that title too literally. He was charged with assault in July for his alleged role in an altercation at La Rouge, a Toronto nightclub on June 5. At a pretrial hearing on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports, the Ontario Court set a tentative trial date of March 7 to 11, at which time he'll have to come to Canada to stand trial.

Details of the incident are murky, as the court has sealed them from publication, but a lawyer for the rapper (real name: Jeffrey Atkinds) said in August that Ja Rule was pleading not guilty. ''You can underline that [not-guilty plea] three times,'' Steven Skurka told reporters at his client's arraignment, MTV News reported at the time. ''There's no celebrity justice here. You don't get treated differently in this country if your name is Martha, Michael or Ja Rule. Everyone is treated the same.''

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