Da Brat to pay total of $6.4 million in compensation to assault victim
Rapper Da Brat is facing a total payout of $6.4 million to a waitress she assaulted during a 2007 club altercation after a jury awarded the victim an additional $2.7 million .
The Not Tonight hitmaker, real name Shawntae Harris, stood trial on Thursday (27Feb14) for a civil suit filed by Shayla Stevens, who claimed to have suffered permanent facial scarring, neurological impairment and severe mental pain after she was hit with a bottle at an Atlanta, Georgia club.
The jury delivered a swift verdict and on Thursday afternoon, Da
Brat, who completed a three-year prison sentence in 2011 after
pleading guilty to aggravated assault, was ordered to pay Stevens
$3.7 million in damages.
However, the jury later slapped Da Brat with another hefty fine,
awarding Stevens, a former cheerleader for the Atlanta Falcons, an
additional $2.7 million for injuries and loss of earnings.
The ruling came just a day after the case, which was initially
heard in an Atlanta court on Wednesday (26Feb14), was declared a
mistrial as one juror was found unfit to serve as he was not a U.S.
citizen. A new jury was quickly assembled, allowing the trial to
proceed on Thursday.