Robertino DeAngelis could not be there yesterday to hear his accuser, his former girlfriend, describe how he allegedly beat her with a hammer.

He was not in the courtroom because he is still recovering from injuries received when he ran into the path of a moving light-rail car, apparently intentionally, following the alleged attack.

Despite his absence, District Judge Robert Ravenstahl ordered Mr. DeAngelis, 16, held for trial on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and unlawful restraint. Mr. DeAngelis remains free on $20,000 bond.

The incident unfolded on Oct. 31 after Mr. DeAngelis and his former girlfriend, Sarah DeIuliis, 17, broke up.

The Mt. Lebanon High School students agreed to meet that evening in a wooded area for her to retrieve personal belongings.

She testified that Mr. DeAngelis wanted to talk with her, so they began walking along a wooded path in Mt. Lebanon above an embankment that sloped to the Port Authority's T tracks near the Arlington stop.

For one instant, Ms. DeIuliis testified, her ex-boyfriend disappeared from her peripheral vision. In the next moment, she said, she was struck in the back of the head.

She said she turned to defend herself from the attack as Mr. DeAngelis continued to swing the hammer.

At one point in the cross examination, defense attorney Patrick Thomassey noted photographs that showed the girl had bruises on her hands and knuckles.

She explained the hand injuries resulted from her trying to block her face from the hammer assault.

Mr. Thomassey said the boy has undergone about 15 surgical procedures because of multiple bone fractures and blood clots that resulted from them.

After the hearing, Mr. Thomassey called the incident an overblown fight between two kids. He had suggested in his courtroom questioning that, perhaps, Ms. DeIuliis had been the aggressor.

His client denies having attacked Ms. DeIuliis, Mr. Thomassey said.

However, attorney John Gismondi, who is representing the DeIuliis family in a planned civil suit, pointed out that police found a book bag Mr. DeAngelis discarded along the trolley tracks.

Inside the bag, police found a large kitchen knife and duct tape.

The girl's father, Joe DeIuliis, was angered while listening as reporters interviewed Mr. Thomassey after the hearing. Though Mr. Gismondi advised him not to comment, he made a statement later.

"The defense that he is trying to raise -- that Sarah was the aggressor -- it's asinine," Mr. DeIuliis said. "Shame on them. It's absurd and despicable. It's an act of desperation."

Mr. Gismondi, after the hearing, said, "He came to the scene with duct tape, with a large kitchen knife, with a hammer, apparently with bad intentions in mind. Any suggestions otherwise is ridiculous."

Mr. DeAngelis has been charged as an adult in the case.