Andrew Dalton, Associated Press, published on Saturday, April 30, 2022, 7:03 AM EDT
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A judge on Friday dismissed part of the case against Kim Kardashian in the case of former reality star Black China, while the jury discussed the other elements.
Judge Gregory Alarcon ruled that Chyna’s lawyer, Lin Chiani, had not made any statements during the Kardashian trial that were defamatory of Chyna.
The case against Kardashian for interfering in a contract remains alive. The jury decided on this, as well as on defamation and interference cases against Chris Jenner, Chloe Kardashian and Kylie Jenner.
The jurors returned Friday without reaching a verdict after their first full day of deliberations. Their instructions had to be reconsidered after Kim Kardashian’s decision, and the lawyers and the judge answered several questions they sent. They are due to resume on Monday morning.
Chyna’s case alleges that women misrepresented television producers and executives that Chyna forcibly attacked her then-fiancé Rob Kardashian in December 2016 in an attempt to cancel her reality show Rob & Chyna.
Chiani said in closing remarks on Thursday afternoon that the women had no reason to believe the attack had occurred, as testimony, photos and videos from the time did not show significant injuries to Rob Kardashian.
“He had no sign of him,” Chiani said. “There was no call to the police, no trip to the hospital, not even a band-aid.
Kardashian’s lawyer, Michael G. Rhodes, said at the time of his closure that the women had every reason to believe stories of the attack by Rob Kardashian and Chris Jenner’s longtime boyfriend Corey Gamble, who broke up the dispute and was a key defense witness.
“Do you remember what Rob looked like at the booth yesterday?” His pain was real, “Rhodes said. “This is a real family. Yes, they are famous, but they are real people. He was very badly injured here. “
Ciani provided clear examples of statements via text messages and emails from Chris Jenner, Chloe Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, telling the show’s producers and E! the network on which the show appeared, regarding allegations of abuse.
But the case she filed against Kim Kardashian was less clear.
After Alarcon read the jury’s instructions on Thursday, Rhodes said there was no potentially defamatory statement from Kim Kardashian.
Chiani was angry at the statement, but the disappointed judge scolded her, saying she had agreed to the jury’s instructions before the trial began.
A similar argument surfaced in court on Friday about Alarcon’s unusual method of selecting a jury. Instead of choosing 12 jurors and four deputies, the judge forced the lawyers to choose 16 jurors, then chose by random draw after concluding arguments which four were deputies.
The judge again told Chiani that she had agreed to the trial before the trial.
In the civil case, nine of the 12 jurors will have to agree on whether three of Kardashian’s defendants either knowingly lied about China abusing Rob Kardashian or disseminated the information with reckless disregard for the truth. The same number will have to decide whether each of the four has illegally interfered in Chyna’s contract with E! network.
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This story has been corrected to show the defense attorney’s first name is Michael, not David.
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