Snoop Doggy Dogg Bodyguard to Stand Trial

VAN NUYS — Hoping to avoid a prison sentence, the bodyguard of Snoop Doggy Dogg withdrew a no-contest plea Thursday and will go to trial on charges he stalked an ex-girlfriend.

Calling the January plea agreement “ill-conceived” and “a mess,” Superior Court Judge Sandy Kriegler allowed McKinley Malik Lee, 27, to stand trial on the charges stemming from allegations he stalked the woman when she ended their relationship last year.

The agreement called for probation for Lee in return for his no-contest plea to charges that otherwise were punishable by a maximum of three years in prison.

While awaiting sentencing, Lee was accused of contacting the woman several times, a violation of the January plea agreement. Because of the latest allegations, Lee faced the full prison term instead of probation at sentencing, according to his attorney, Mark Kamerman of Encino.

“I liken it to buyer’s remorse,” said Kamerman. “It’s like buying a car at the last minute, driving it home and waking up, and then saying, ‘My God, what did I do?’ ”

Kamerman said the only reason Lee entered the plea was so that he could get out of jail quickly. But Lee never believed that he had committed the crime of stalking the 25-year-old San Fernando Valley woman, Kamerman said.

Last year, Lee and Snoop Doggy Dogg, whose given name is Calvin Broadus, were acquitted of murder charges in a 1993 slaying in West Los Angeles.

A preliminary hearing in the stalking case was set for May 12.