REMY MA TO FACE TRIAL ON GANG ASSAULT + INTIMIDATION CHARGES

Rapper REMY MA will face trial on gang assault and witness intimidation charges, a judge ruled on Wednesday (05Dec07).

The 26-year-old's lawyer, Ivan Fisher, asked to have the charges dismissed, citing insufficient evidence, but Manhattan State Supreme Court Justice Rena Uviller rejected his request.

Remy Ma - real name Remy Smith - has already been charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon after the shooting of 23-year-old Makeda Barnes-Joseph outside a New York nightclub in July (07).

One count of attempted murder was reduced to assault after evidence suggested the shooting was unintentional.

The charges of witness tampering and gang assault relate to the alleged beating of a witness and his boyfriend in a Bronx, New York nightclub in August (07).

Remy Ma is due back in court on 3 January (08).