Rose Bowl Assault Case Reaches Preliminary Hearing Stage in Pasadena Court

The criminal case against the man accused of beating a woman unconscious at a Rüfüs Du Sol concert at the Rose Bowl reaches a key threshold Monday morning, when a judge at the Pasadena Courthouse will decide whether the evidence supports sending the matter to trial.

The hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. in Dept. H at the Pasadena Courthouse, 300 E. Walnut St. The defendant is identified on the court calendar as Julio Cesar Zavala Madrigal. Media reports at the time of his August 2025 arrest identified him as Julio Cesar Lopez Zavala, 23, of Hawthorne.

He is charged with battery, according to the court calendar. He pleaded not guilty in August 2025 to two felony counts of assault, according to NBC Los Angeles.

Monday’s proceeding is a preliminary hearing — a stage in California criminal proceedings at which a judge reviews the available evidence and determines whether probable cause exists to hold the defendant for trial. If the judge finds probable cause, the case advances. If not, charges may be dismissed or reduced.

The charges stem from an incident on August 16, 2025, at approximately 8:30 p.m., during a performance by the Australian alternative dance group at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

According to a Pasadena Police Department statement, three people were assaulted after the suspect allegedly became agitated when a drink was spilled. One victim — an Arizona woman — was knocked unconscious and suffered injuries severe enough that she stopped breathing, requiring CPR from her fiancé before paramedics arrived, according to reporting by KTLA. Pasadena Fire Department treated her at the scene.

Video of the alleged attack was posted to social media and drew national attention after circulating widely online. According to a Pasadena Police Department statement, detectives used the footage and tips from the public to identify the suspect. He was arrested in Hawthorne on August 21, 2025, five days after the incident, and was booked on felony battery with great bodily injury, felony assault with great bodily injury, and misdemeanor battery, according to TMZ, citing Pasadena Police. At his arraignment on August 25, 2025, he pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance, ordered by a judge to wear an ankle monitor.

A civil lawsuit filed in October 2025 in Los Angeles County Superior Court by the primary victim, Shelby Lynn Elston, and her fiancé, Cain Webb, named the Rose Bowl Operating Company and the defendant, alleging inadequate security at the venue. That lawsuit was dropped without prejudice in November 2025, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

The criminal case is separate from the civil matter.

Monday’s hearing is in Dept. H at the Pasadena Courthouse, 300 E. Walnut St., beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Eight months after video from the Rose Bowl’s bleachers turned a concertgoer’s night into a nationally followed case, the criminal proceedings at the Pasadena Courthouse reach the point where a judge decides whether there is enough to take it to trial.