A person suing US rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs over alleged sexual assault has received $100m (£76.6m) by default after Combs failed to reply.
Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith, 51, accused Combs of drugging and sexually assaulting him at a celebration in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997. these accusations.
Cardero-Smith is a convicted felon at the moment serving time in jail and is understood for his protracted civil lawsuits, a neighborhood newspaper reported.
Coombs’ lawyer stated Cardero-Smith “dedicated fraud earlier than the court docket” and instructed the BBC the rapper would combat the ruling.
When individuals don’t reply to lawsuits, courts enter default judgments towards them.
Coombs and his legal professionals instructed the BBC they had been unaware of the lawsuit as a result of Coombs had not acquired correct discover that they’d search to vacate Monday’s judgment.
The lawsuit is one among a sequence of latest sexual assault accusations filed towards Combs, one of the profitable moguls in rap music historical past.
Lenawee County Circuit Courtroom Choose Anna Marie Anzalone introduced the award to Cardero-Smith on Monday after Combs didn’t attend a Sept. 9 listening to on the lawsuit.
In line with native newspaper the Detroit Metro Occasions, Cardero-Smith got here into contact with Combs whereas working in Detroit’s restaurant and hospitality business within the Nineties.
He instructed the court docket Coombs lately provided him $2.3 million to drop the lawsuit, however he rejected the supply. He additionally stated he nonetheless knew Combs and produced paperwork exhibiting Combs’ title in jail visitation logs.
Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, denied in a press release to the BBC that the rapper knew Cardro-Smith.
Courtroom paperwork present Cardero-Smith is serving time for convictions unrelated to sexual misconduct and kidnapping.
The Detroit Metro Occasions reported that he taught himself legal and civil legislation in jail and has since “lengthy challenged the justice system” by submitting a number of lawsuits.
Others have sued Combs for sexual and bodily abuse, together with his longtime companion, Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura.
Combs paid Ventura an undisclosed quantity and finally settled the matter out of court docket.
The rapper has repeatedly denied the accusations however later apologized after CCTV footage was launched in Could 2016 exhibiting Combs throwing and kicking Ventura in a resort hallway.
In March, federal brokers raided two houses owned by the star as “a part of an ongoing investigation” into intercourse trafficking.
On the time, Coombs’ legal professional known as the raid an “unprecedented ambush” and stated his consumer was harmless.
