Jury clears Cardi B of assault charges in under an hour

Cardi B wins lawsuit, jury finds her not guilty quickly.

Cardi B won a civil lawsuit brought against her by a security guard in Beverly Hills. The rapper gave two days of testimony that was sometimes rude and made the jury laugh.

After a fight in the hallway outside of an obstetrician’s office, Emani Ellis sued Cardi B for $24 million, saying she assaulted her, hit her, and caused her mental distress on purpose. He said that during the set-to, the rapper scratched her face with a long nail extension, which left a scar.

It took the jury less than an hour to decide that the hip-hop star was not guilty of all charges.

Cardi B said outside the courthouse after the trial was over, “I swear to God, I will say it on my deathbed, I did not touch that woman.” She also said that the civil hearing kept her from seeing her kids on their first day of school.

She said, “I want to thank my lawyers, the jurors, the judge, and the polite press.”

Cardi B, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, said in court that she never hit, scratched, or spat at the security guard because she thought the guard was filming her on her phone. It was February 24, 2018, and the rapper was four months pregnant. She had a checkup that day.

Ellis was a security guard at the Beverly Hills building where Cardi B had her meeting, and she said she was making her rounds when she saw the famous person get off the elevator. She told the judge that she was so excited that she said, “Wow, it’s Cardi B.”

Ellis said that the artist then asked her, “Why the f— are you telling people you’ve seen me?” Cardi B then told her she was trying to spread rumors that she was at the doctor’s office, she said during the four-day hearing.

Ellis said Cardi B called her names, used the N-word and other slurs, threatened to fire her, made fun of her body, and made fun of her work. She said Cardi B spat on her, hit her, and scratched her left cheek with a fingernail that was 2 to 3 inches long.

US rapper and songwriter Cardi B

But the jury bought Cardi B’s story, which was that Ellis was the one who attacked.

In an Alhambra courtroom, the rapper slammed the complainant and said she wanted money. Cardi B said the two slapped each other in the chest and said mean things, but nothing else.

The judge heard her say to Ellis, “B—, get the f— out of my face.” Why are you right next to me? Why do you have a record of me? It’s your job to be security, right?

She said, “I’m thinking to myself, ‘Girl is big!'” “She’s wearing big black boots.” “What the hell am I going to do now?”

He said she was 5 feet 3 inches tall, 130 pounds, and pregnant at the time of the event. She said she wouldn’t have tried to fight the guard because he was so much bigger.

Cardi B made people laugh in court when she was asked if she felt “disabled” at the time of the incident. “At that moment, when you’re pregnant, I’m very disabled,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Do you want me to tell you what I can’t do?”

Terrible An office worker for Dr. David Finke, with whom Cardi B had a meeting that day, named Malcolm told the jury that she saw Ellis corner the famous person. The front desk worker said she then stepped in between them, and the guard reached out to grab the rapper. Malcolm said that she cut her face in the end.

Finke said in court that he saw the guard hurt that person and hit the girl on the shoulder. He also said that Ellis was not hurt. Both said they didn’t see Cardi B hit Ellis.

Ellis’ lawyer, Ron Rosen Janfaza, told the jury on Tuesday during the final arguments, “Cardi B needs to be held accountable.” “There was no video camera, so it comes down to one question: Ms. Ellis, do you trust a guard with a good record?” “She is a great citizen,” he told the jury.

Rosen Janfaza said that during cross-examination, the artist admitted that she and Ellis were touching chest-to-chest while yelling at each other. He said that this alone is an unwanted touch and battery on his client. During the 40 to 50 seconds, he told the jury, Cardi B called his client fat, spat on her, and hit her. The receptionist and doctor did not see it.

He said that his client had been hurt for seven years and that “this was a violent attack.”

Peter Anderson, Cardi B’s lawyer, told the jury that they should question the security guard’s story and that his client’s actions were mostly limited to swearing and yelling, which is not something that can be sued for.

He said, “The question is whether Cardi ever hit the plaintiff.” He said there was a lot of proof that she didn’t do it. Anderson said the guard said she never called the police, didn’t go to the hospital right away, and didn’t even put a Band-Aid on the scratch. Instead, she went home and took a nap.