A person suing US rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs over alleged sexual assault has gained $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, an area newspaper reported.
Combs’ lawyer mentioned Cardero-Smith “dedicated fraud in court docket” and instructed the BBC the rapper would combat the ruling.
When individuals don’t reply to lawsuits, courts enter default judgments in opposition to them.
Coombs and his legal professionals instructed the BBC they have been unaware of the lawsuit as a result of Coombs had not obtained correct discover that they might search to vacate Monday’s judgment.
The lawsuit is one among a sequence of latest sexual assault accusations filed in opposition to Combs, one of the vital 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 accordance 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 not too long ago provided him $2.3 million to drop the lawsuit, however he rejected the supply. He additionally mentioned he nonetheless is aware of Combs and produced paperwork displaying Combs’ identify in jail visitation logs.
Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, denied in an announcement 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 felony and civil legislation in jail and developed “a protracted historical past of difficult the justice system” by submitting quite a few lawsuits.
Others have sued Combs for sexual and bodily abuse, together with his longtime associate, Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura.
Combs paid Ventura an undisclosed quantity and ultimately settled the matter out of court docket.
The rapper has repeatedly denied the accusations however later apologized after CCTV footage was launched in Might 2016 displaying Combs throwing and kicking Ventura in a lodge 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’ lawyer referred to as the raid an “unprecedented ambush” and mentioned his shopper was harmless.
