Jury clears rapper Cardi B in civil assault trial over 2018 security guard dispute
Jurors deliberated about an hour on Tuesday in a lawsuit that stemmed from Cardi's visit to an OB-GYN center in Beverly Hills, California, during her first pregnancy.
Cardi B was won her civil assault trial in California.
A jury said Tuesday that plaintiff Emani Ellis didn’t prove any of her three claims against the social media star turned rapper, which were assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Jurors deliberated about an hour. After the verdict was read, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ian C. Fusselman referenced the questions he allowed them to submit for witnesses when he thanked him for their service.
“I know that you’ve paid a great deal of attention throughout the matter, which was especially evidenced by the questions that you did submit,” Fusselman said
Ellis claimed Cardi, legal name Belcalis Almanzar, assaulted her by scratching her face with a long fingernail during a dispute at medical center in 2018 when Ellis was working security and Cardi was there for a pregnancy check up. Ellis said the scratched scaed her face and she underwent two microneedling surgery sessions in 2022.
Cardi spoke outside the courthouse after the verdict and urged her fans not to harass Ellis or her family. She thanked her lawyers, Lisa Moore of Moore Pequignot LLC in Atlanta, Georgia, and Peter Anderson and Eric Lamm of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in Los Angeles, and she said she’ll countersue next time someone sues her frivolously.
“I’m going to make you pay, because this is not OK. You don’t work for your money to give out your money. So don’t ever think that I’m just gonna give you my money that I work hard for,” 32-year-old Cardi said. “I don’t lay in bed all day. I work all day, and I work hard for my money, for my kids and for people I take care of. So don’t you ever think that you’re gonna sue me and I’m just gonna settle.”
She said she hopes the case is “something that I leave behind, that she leave behind.”
“Don’t go bother her,” Cardi said of Ellis. “Don’t be talking about her. Don’t be talking about how she looks. Don’t call her no nasty names. Let’s just put this behind.”
Ellis’ lawyer, Ron Rosen Janfaza, told jurors in his one-hour closing argument that they should be offended by Cardi’s use of profanity on the witness stand. Anderson responded by reminding jurors Cardi was reciting what was said during the confrontation with Ellis.
Cardi testified that Ellis was seeking $24 million, but Rosen didn’t ask for that much in his argument. Instead, he told jurors he was seeking “a simple amount of money that can make her whole.” He mentioned $17,500, which is what Ellis owes a surgeon who operated on her face scar, and he said jurors “are allowed” to give “another $250,000 for pain and suffering” if they like.
“You may say, I would like to give her $100 a day. For one year, that’s $36,000, and for seven years, that comes up just $270,000 we’re not looking for millions of dollars,”
Rosen said.
Anderson reminded jurors in his argument that Ellis didn’t seek medical attention after the incident and instead went home and took a nap.
“The plaintiff did not see a doctor. She didn’t go to an emergency room. She didn’t call the police or make a police report, and she actually testified she did not know if the scratch that has supposedly ruined her life was even bleeding,” Anderson said.
Anderson argued for about 30 minutes before Judge Fusselman recessed the jury for lunch. He argued for another 30 minutes when court resumed.
“This is not a difficult case. It is not a closed case. Plaintiff has the burden of proof, and the evidence is overwhelming in Cardi’s favor,” Anderson said.
Rosen had a last stance following his eight-minute rebuttal. After the jury left, he told Judge Fusselman he recorded Cardi throwing something at a reporter outside the courthouse. He also said Cardi had been staring at Ellis, her mother and grandmother and “it’s unfair and … they feel scared.”
He asked the judge to admonish her, but Fusselman said he didn’t see the conduct.
“The court can’t make any orders for conduct that the court didn’t witness. … I think it appropriate that the parties be courteous to each other. I don’t think it’s appropriate for anyone to be either threatening anyone or even by way of staring at someone,” Fusselman said.
In addition to Ellis, Rosen called four witnesses:
Leanne Shmidt, Ellis’ mother who testified Ellis told her about the incident and her injury. “I noticed changes in terms of a lot of anxiety, a lot of depression, and just her general wellbeing has changed dramatically,” Schmidt testified.
Dianne Shmidt, Ellis’ grandmother who testified Ellis told her about the incident and her injury. “After this incident, she was depressed. She was really disappointed. I think she liked Cardi B before the the incident, and she was shocked that she was reacted that way.” Schmidt lives in Las Vegas and said Ellis visits her monthly, which Rosen has highlighted to try to counter Cardi’s defense that Ellis isn’t suffering an emotional injury.
Nichole McKenzie, a psychologist who saw Ellis in 2018 and testified she told her about the incident and her injury.
Brent Moelleken, a plastic surgeon who performed two micro-needling sessions on Ellis’ face scar in November 2022 and testified her facial scar is consistent with a scratch from a fingernail. Moelleken testified Ellis owes him $17,500 that he’s waiting until after trial to collect.
Along with herself, Cardi’s defense witnesses were:
David Finke, a gynecologist who saw Cardi at the medical center that day and testified he recommended Ellis be fired for her actions. He said he didn’t see Cardi spit on Ellis or ridicule her the way Ellis claims. He called the dispute an “epic yelling match.” He also testified he didn’t see an injury on Ellis’ face, but his receptionist was scratched on her face and, based on the positioning of Ellis and Cardi, it came from Ellis.
In cross-examination, Rosen asked Finke, “It’s important to you to help Cardi B in this case, so you can continue to receive celebrity clients, correct?”
Finke quickly answered, “It’s very important for me to tell what happened that day and to ensure that anybody coming to my office — celebrity or not — doesn’t have that type of experience.”
Tierra Malcolm, Finke’s receptionist who saw the end of the dispute between Ellis and Cardi and testified she told Ellis, “What are you doing? You’re at work” and believes Ellis was at fault. Cardi’s lawyer identified Malcom and located her shortly before trial.
James Rosenberg, a psychiatrist who evaluated Ellis in 2023 and testified he saw “no significant evidence that Ms. Ellis sustained an emotional injury at any point in time, in this case, from the time of the incident present.”
Rosenberg said Ellis “reported to me that since the incident, she’s traveled to Hawaii, Las Vegas, Mexico, though she couldn’t remember, supposedly, that if she had gone to other places, or how many times and again.
Particularly with severe PTSD, you don’t want to leave your house. You don’t want to interact with people. You withdraw from your family. The future looks bleak to you. You don’t have a job.”
You can find videos of all testimony on my YouTube channel. I’m back streaming Donna Adelson’s murder-for-hire trial in the morning.
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