Hip Hop Mogul, Diddy has filed a motion to overturn a $100 million default judgment in a sexual assault lawsuit brought by a Michigan inmate.
On Thursday, September, 12,
Combs, 54, filed an emergency motion to vacate a default judgment, and a motion
to dissolve a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, per court
documents obtained by PEOPLE.
This comes after he lost the
$100 million default judgment in Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith's lawsuit against
him due to his failure to attend a virtual hearing on Monday, Sept. 9. Judge
Anna Marie Anzalone awarded Cardello-Smith the multi-million dollar judgment in
Lenawee County Circuit Court.
In his request for Judge
Anzalone to vacate the default judgment, Combs' attorneys said that
Cardello-Smith is a "convicted felon who is serving time in prison for
kidnapping and sexual assault."
They claim that Cardello-Smith
has frequently filed "frivolous" claims in the past, and his
allegations that Combs sexually assaulted him in 1997 "are objectively
unbelievable."
Combs' legal team also argues
that the Bad Boy Records founder was not properly served in Cardello-Smith's
lawsuit, so the default judgment is invalid under Michigan Court Rule 2.105(A).
Combs' motion alleged that he
was unaware of the lawsuit until the news concerning the $100 million default
judgment was reported in the media.
His attorneys allege that any
delay he had in responding was unintentional. Once Combs became aware of the
lawsuit, he quickly filed the motion to vacate the ruling, the court papers
stated.
The filing also alleges that
Cardello-Smith's allegations, which Combs has denied in a sworn affidavit, are
fabricated, implausible and full of "inconsistencies and fantastical
claims," such as Cardello-Smith's claims that he invested $150,000 for 49%
of Combs' net worth.
The court papers also said the
default judgment should be vacated, calling the $100 million award
"extraordinary and incompatible with any possible measure of actual
damages even if every (facially implausible) allegation in the Complaint were
true" as Combs "did not receive notice of the lawsuit" until
Monday.
Combs' attorneys noted that
even if Cardello-Smith's claims were true, the statute of limitations ended in
2007, so they should be dismissed.
Combs also filed a motion to
dissolve a temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction,
reiterating that Cardello-Smith is not owed injunctive relief and Combs'
constitutional rights were violated since he was not served with the complaint.
They said the judgment was improper because Cardello-Smith didn't claim he had
an equitable interest in the property, but instead said he could be awarded a
monetary judgment against Combs. The Michigan Supreme Court has previously
determined that this isn't enough to authorize relief in the injunction order,
per Combs' motion.
Combs' lawyers say the court
doesn't have jurisdiction over Combs as a signature on a return receipt is not
his.
Cardello-Smith filed a
complaint against Combs in June. In August, he was granted a temporary
restraining order that blocked Combs from selling assets that could be “used to
compensate Cardello-Smith for possible damages," The Detroit Metro Times
reported.
In a court hearing later that
month, Cardello-Smith claimed that Combs came to see him in prison and offered
him $2.3 million to dismiss the lawsuit, according to the Guardian.
In his lawsuit, Cardello-Smith
alleged he met Combs in 1997 during an afterparty at a Holiday Inn in Detroit.
The two got a private hotel with two women when Combs allegedly groped
Cardello-Smith's buttocks while the latter was having intercourse with one of
the women. Cardello-Smith also alleged that Combs drugged him and sexually
assaulted him.
Marc Agnifilo, an attorney for
Combs, addressed the lawsuit in a statement on Tuesday, Sept. 10, saying, “This
man is a convicted felon and sexual predator, who has been sentenced on 14
counts of sexual assault and kidnapping over the last 26 years. His resume now
includes committing a fraud on the court from prison, as Mr. Combs has never
heard of him let alone been served with any lawsuit. Mr. Combs looks forward to
having this judgment swiftly dismissed.”
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