L.A. federal jury sides with comedian Katt Williams in assault, battery lawsuit
I ran into comedian Katt Williams at the First Street U.S. Courthouse in Los Angeles earlier this month and realized he was on trial in a 2016 lawsuit that alleges he assaulted his now-former personal assistant.
Jurors ruled in his favor later that day and declared he did not touch the plaintiff, Angelina Triplett-Hill “with the intent to harm or offender her.”
The verdict followed what appears to be a pretty major mistake by someone that notified jurors of a criminal case and two additional lawsuits against Williams, whose legal name is Micah Sierra Williams.
In a note sent before the verdict, jurors asked if they can “ask & use information from the table of contents in the evidence binder about People of the State of Georgia v. Micah Sierra Williams & Judgement - Yodira Torres v. Micah Katt Williams & Paul Love v. Micah Katt Williams?”
The Georgia case involved Williams pleading no contest to assault and battery charges in 2016 over an incident with a bodyguard, according to the Associated Press.
Senior U.S. District Judge Christine Snyder told jurors the table of contents “was provided to you in error and you should disregard it and not speculate about” the cases. She said the court determined the cases “are not relevant to this case.”
“You are only to review the exhibits in the folder,” Snyder wrote. “I have instructed the courtroom deputy to remove the table of contents from your exhibit book.”
Jurors announced they’d reached a verdict 18 minutes after Snyder answered the note.
They rejected all claims against Williams: Battery, assault and intentional inflection of emotional distress. You can read the verdict form here.
Triplett-Hill was represented by James A. Bryant, The Cochran Firm. You can read the complaint here. Williams was represented by Alexandra Achamallah and Jeremiah Reynolds of Eisner, LLP. You can read their trial memorandum here.
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