WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who accused singer Chris Brown and his bodyguard of punching him in the face is trying to “get rich” as a result of a bloody nose, a lawyer for the bodyguard said Thursday.
Bernard Grimm made the statements in a courtroom in Washington during the start of a trial for his client, bodyguard Christopher Hollosy, who is charged with misdemeanor assault.
Both Hollosy and Brown were arrested in October after a man accused them of punching him outside a Washington hotel.
Hollosy told police he punched the man after he tried to get on Brown’s tour bus. But the alleged victim told police Brown and later Hollosy punched him after he tried to get in a photo Brown was taking with two women. A photo shown in court Thursday showed the man with a bloody nose, and court papers said his nose was fractured. The man later filed a $3 million lawsuit against Hollosy and Brown.
During the trial’s opening statements, Grimm focused on the lawsuit filed by Parker Adams, 20. Grimm said Adams is “simply trying to get rich” and “wants to get paid for this incident.”
Lawyers for Adams sued in February seeking $1.5 million each from Brown and Hollosy. When Adams took the stand Thursday, he said that the lawsuit wasn’t his idea and that he didn’t tell his lawyers how much money to ask for.
“I only know about the dollar amounts through the press,” said Adams, who is from Beltsville, Md.
Grimm, who held up poster-size blowups of the lawsuit’s pages in court Thursday, said the amount far exceeds the cost of Adams’ medical care, which Adams said in court amounted to a few thousand dollars.
Hollosy faces up to six months in prison if convicted, though his lawyer said in court Thursday that he has no criminal record and any sentence is likely to be much less. His trial is expected to last one to two days. Brown’s trial will follow.
Brown, who also faces a misdemeanor assault charge, has denied punching Adams. The case is significant for the Grammy winner because if convicted he could face additional penalties, including jail time, as a result of an earlier case from California. At the time he was arrested in Washington, Brown was on probation in Los Angeles for an attack on his then-girlfriend, singer Rihanna, in 2009.
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(Photo Source: AP)
