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Judge Protects Diddy's Financial Privacy
If you want a piece of Diddy's bling, you're gonna have to win—and big.
That's the message a Los Angeles judge is sending to a man who's suing Sean Combs, after temporarily rejecting a request to have the rap mogul fork over highly detailed financial statements that could reveal his net worth.
Gerard Rechnitzer filed a lawsuit last year against Combs, claiming he was assaulted by the hip-hopster at a post-Oscars bash at a Hollywood hot spot last February.
According to local wires, Superior Court Judge Robert Hess stated that the only way the California man could gain access to such information about Combs' sources of income is if he's able to persuade a jury of his peers to buy his side of the story when the case goes to trial May 27.
"If you were to get a finding of fraud, oppression or malice, some or all of this information you would be entitled to,'' Hess said. "I'm not persuaded at this point to give it to you today. We have privacy issues here that are very important.''
The judge noted however that if such thresholds were met, he'd revisit the issue to help Rechnitzer determine how much in punitive damages he might be entitled to in the event he wins a judgment in his favor.
Per the complaint, the alleged smackdown took place Feb. 25, 2007, in the parking lot of the Roosevelt Hotel when Rechnitzer confronted Combs for chatting up his fiancée, Sofia Sokolov, as they were exiting Teddy's nightclub.
Rechnitzer's attorney, Michael M. Mazban, subsequently deposed four eyewitnesses who asserted the "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" MC punched the plaintiff in the face with the back of his hand without warning, causing him to fall backward into a taxi.
That version of events was challenged by Combs' attorney, Hillary Jones, who filed a declaration contending that any contact with Rechnitzer on the performer's part "was caused by [the plaintiff's] forward motion against [Combs'] open hand." She also cited her client's belief that Rechnitzer didn't sustain any bodily harm.
Not so, stated Marzban in court papers.
"People do not bounce off hands with their face/body, they get punched," the legal eagle wrote in reply. "The defense is engulfed in fantasy and not reality."
As for Rechnitzer's injury claims, Marzban added that Combs was in no way capable of diagnosing his client because he "is not a doctor" and that the injuries were confirmed by Rechnitzer's physicians, including a dentist and a hearing expert.
During today's hearing, Jones offered to show Hess a videotape she claimed was from a hotel security camera that proved Rechnitzer made the first move and did not "fly into a taxi," contradicting witness testimony on his behalf. However, the judge declined to view the footage, which Marzban maintained was hard to make out anyway.
The Los Angeles Police Department initially probed the incident after Rechnitzer filed a complaint, but declined to file charges.
Following Rechnitzer's legal salvo, Combs fired back with a suit of his own arguing that he shouldn't be on the hook for whatever happened to Rechnitzer and that others should pony up any damages should Rechnitzer win in court.
Both sides were unavailable for comment as of press time.
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