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Man accused of stalking married actors to stand trial
A man accused of stalking married actors Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck was ordered today to stand trial.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Windham found sufficient evidence to require Steven Richard Burky, 37, to proceed to trial.
Burky faces charges on two felony counts of stalking and two misdemeanor counts of disobeying a court order.
Burky is due back at the Airport Branch Courthouse for arraignment on Jan. 19, according to Deputy District Attorney Wendy Segall.
Burky was arrested Dec. 14 at a nursery school that one of the couple's two daughters attends in the 1200 block of Alley One, at the rear of the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica.
Garner was granted a restraining order against Burky in November 2008, after telling a judge she feared for her life and that of her family. She alleged that Burky had been stalking her since 2002 and was becoming more and more threatening.
According to her court papers, Burky once told her "God had sent him a vision of her being persecuted in some manner that may result in her death.''
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The restraining order required Burky to remain at least 100 yards away from Garner and her family.
Burky was held on a psychiatric hold last year. He remains jailed in lieu of $300,000 bail.
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