LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A Middletown man charged with assaulting the mother of his children during a late-night August break-in appeared in court for a preliminary hearing that ended up being rescheduled.

Justin Simon Lord, 42, is facing a raft of felony charges for the Aug. 8 break-in and domestic violence incident that led to his former partner’s new husband shooting him in the leg, as Lake County News detailed in an Aug. 31 report.

He was arrested on Aug. 27 during a court appearance, at which point his attorney argued unsuccessfully for Lord’s arrest warrant to be withdrawn.

Lord arrived in Judge Andrew Blum’s courtroom on Thursday morning for his scheduled preliminary hearing using a walker due to his injured leg.

The District Attorney’s Office charged Lord with burglary; inflicting corporal injury on the mother of his children, with a previous conviction for that crime in December 2020; two counts of stalking, with a February 2022 conviction for violating a restraining order; assault with a deadly weapon, in this case, a metal rod that he used to beat his former partner and break two televisions; assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury; vandalism; two counts of making criminal threats, one for the female victim, and one for both her husband and a neighbor who fought with Lord; assault with a deadly weapon, a knife, on the victim’s husband who shot Lord; and a misdemeanor charge for damaging a communications device to prevent help, which is for taking a phone from his 9-year-old daughter who was calling authorities.

Lord’s attorney, Justin Petersen, filed a motion seeking to delay the hearing because he had received a voluminous amount of discovery in the case this week.

In response to questions from Judge Blum, Petersen explained that he had hundreds of photos, as well as body cam and surveillance footage to review and then to go over with Lord.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Rachel Abelson said her staff came in on the Labor Day holiday to work on preparing the materials. Petersen responded that he appreciated that effort and that he had received the information faster as a result.

Blum asked Petersen how quickly he could have the materials reviewed. Petersen suggested putting the hearing over to Sept. 25.

Based on the defense receiving the late discovery, Blum concluded there was good cause to delay the hearing to Sept. 25, as Petersen requested.

In the meantime, Lord is remaining in the Lake County Jail without bail.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.