Madina Lake bassist Matthew Leone is definitely in a bit of disbelief today as Justin Pivec, the man accused of severely beating him in 2010, has been cleared of attempted murder charges. A Chicago jury entered a “not guilty” ruling in favor of Pivec.

Leone intervened in a domestic argument between a man and his wife after things started getting physical. The musician was initially able to subdue Pivec, but Pivec freed himself while Leone was calling for help and brutally attacked the unsuspecting bassist, leaving him with a fractured skull, broken nose and fractured jaw. Leone had one-third of his skull removed to deal with the swelling from the beating and took several months to recover.

Matthew’s brother, singer Nathan Leone, posted about the verdict via the group’s Facebook page. He states, “We’re utterly baffled and shocked to get a ‘not guilty’ verdict in the Justin Pivec attempted murder case. Admittedly, we’re not well versed in the justice system, but today a vicious coward was given a free pass for beating his wife and almost killing my brother. This has taken a tremendous toll on all of us for two years and though we’re devastated, we will continue to focus on the positive, which is that Matthew is still with us and hopefully this has spread awareness for victims of domestic violence. More later as we attempt to comprehend this.” While attempted murder is off the board, domestic charges are still pending against Pivec.

Following the attack, the Smashing Pumpkins held a Chicago-based fundraiser that netted $80,000 to help pay Matthew’s medical bills. The relationship with Billy Corgan continued when he produced and wrote a song for Madina Lake’s 2011 disc, ‘World War III.’

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