Dawnette Knight faces up to 19 years in prison

Dawnette Knight pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to one charge of stalking and 24 of making criminal threats.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Mintz said the 33-year-old American will stand trial on 10 November.

Welsh-born star Zeta Jones, 35, who is married to actor Michael Douglas, said the "satanic threats" left her on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Overdose

Ms Knight is currently being held in custody but a bail hearing will take place on Monday.

Her lawyer, Richard Herman, said: "She's been in long enough. We all know that she's no threat to anyone."

He told a press conference Knight only faced criminal charges because the case involved celebrities.

Douglas starred alongside his wife in the 2001 film Traffic

"I'm afraid that we've gone much too far in something that's just greatly overblown," he said.

Ms Knight's not guilty pleas set the stage for another possible court meeting with the Oscar-winner.

Hours after the last time they came face-to-face, during a pre-trial hearing, Ms Knight took an overdose of barbiturates.

It was only after a psychiatric evaluation that it was decided she was fit to stand trial.

Ms Knight is accused of sending 19 letters and threatening phone calls to kill Zeta Jones while she was filming Ocean's Twelve in Amsterdam.

Sorry

One letter allegedly reads: "We are going to slice her up like meat on a bone and feed her to the dogs".

Ms Knight was arrested on 3 June at her home in Beverly Hills, and faces up to 19 years in prison if convicted.

She later wrote to Zeta Jones and father-in-law Kirk Douglas apologising for any "distress" she may have caused.

The letter, released by lawyer Richard Herman in June, said she was infatuated with Zeta Jones's husband Michael Douglas.

"I was a confused young woman infatuated with Michael Douglas and have no rational explanations for my actions," she wrote.