Rapper 50 Cent will be back in court in June — defending his decision to put a young Florida woman’s naked image on YouTube, where it got 3.2 million viewers.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Paul Wooten told lawyers for the busy singer, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III, that he couldn’t juggle everybody’s schedule and accommodate his request for a trial in October. Instead, jury selection will start May 26 and the two-week trial will follow that.
Both Jackson and his accuser, Lastonia Leviston, are expected to take the stand.
Leviston, a Florida resident, sued Jackson for emotional distress in 2010 after he posted a video of her having sex with a former boyfriend, Maurice Murray.
According to court papers, Murray gave Jackson the tape in 2009 after Jackson, 39, recognized Leviston as former girlfriend of the rapper’s rival, Rick Ross. She is also the mother of Ross’ child.
Before posting the tape on the Internet, Jackson altered the tape, inserting himself into it. He blurred Murray’s face but not Leviston’s and she says the mental and emotional distress almost caused her to commit suicide.
Thursday, lawyers for both sides asked Wooten to bar jurors from hearing some evidence they’ve uncovered in the discovery process leading up to the trial, including emails and other items exchanged by the parties.
For example, Leviston’s lawyers wanted to scratch statements by Jackson who said in a deposition that Murray told him Leviston was “a freak” who would “do anything sexually”; that she made several tapes with Murray; and that “she doesn’t mind” if Murray shared the tapes with Jackson.
The judge said he would decide shortly which evidence to eliminate and whether to grant Jackson’s motion to seal the papers where the salacious material was discussed fully.
Source: NY Daily News
