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Third Lawsuit Against Brandy
Brandy by Michael Caulfield/WireImage.com
Former America's Got Talent judge Brandy, has been sued for the third time in connection with a car crash she was in last December.
Mallory Ham, the driver of another car in the four-car crash, is suing the singer for "recklessly wantonly, unlawfully and maliciously" driving the car responsible for the collision, according to court papers.
This is the third lawsuit brought against the singer, who was driving her Range Rover on a Los Angeles freeway Dec. 30 and failed to stop when traffic in front of her slowed, according to published reports.
Awatef Aboudihaj, 38, was killed. Aboudihaj's parents sued Brandy for $50 million and another suit was filed by her husband, Marquane Hdidou. The California Highway Patrol has recommended that Brandy be prosecuted for misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. The city attorney is still reviewing the case and no charges have been filed. — Nadine Mendoza
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May 25, 2007 5:02 PM
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This is just getting ridiculous. Now I know I haven't read everything about the accident but there is no way this would be happening for such excessive amounts if she wasn't famous.
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May 25, 2007 6:02 PM
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I agree with hyperweather on this one. How on earth would the parents of a grown & MARRIED adult even have basis to ask for $50MM for their pain & suffering. Tragic loss for all in her family no doubt, but a car accident should not turn into a bad episode of "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire" just because the driver is famous.
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May 25, 2007 7:07 PM
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I hate to say it, but a part of me believes it is peotic justice. SO many celebrities get away with doing horrible things because they are celebrities, or because they are rich. It's about time one of them has to pay up.
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May 25, 2007 11:54 PM
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I do believe she should pay for her actions, but I think the lawsuits with everyone having their hand out is a little overexcessive. She needs some kind of punishment against, whether it's jail time or whatever, but I agree with the person above who stated about the woman's parents filing a lawsuit. That is just ridiculous to me. Yes, it's their child, but she was married and her husband is the one who is to file the lawsuit. I know he has since filed one, but what basis do they have for theirs since she was married? I think I'd be more concerned about being sure Brandy was prosecuted and not ready to collect the payments.
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May 26, 2007 5:17 AM
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It was an ACCIDENT !!!! C'mon... I don't even know the girl besides her name, never watched anything she was on... but holy crap! Do you realize what this girl has to live with the rest of her life ?!?!?!?! She wasn't drunk, nor on drugs... it was just an unfortunate accident. Compensation for the families loss is justified but 50 million ?!?!?! Sounds like they care more about getting rich than losing their supposed "loved one".
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May 26, 2007 10:12 AM
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I agree with the other posters that this is way out of hand. I would like to add that the precedent set by this particular circumstance not only affects this one famous person but also can be used in other future suits against, for lack of better terminology, fellow commoners.
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May 26, 2007 11:49 AM
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Well, even assuming that the civil cases make it past summary judgment (they won't -- not for what they are asking anyway), a jury awards that much in damages (punitive anyway) and the judge doesn't immediately reject it on the spot, that sort of award would never stand up in appeals court anyway - never -- especially if she hasn't been charged with an actual felony (involuntary vehicular manslaughter or something) or mis-demeanor (reckless driving that led to the death of another or something, I guess that's what it would be). It's been nearly 6 months -- if she hasn't been charged yet, chances are, she isn't going to be charged - and no charges make it that much harder for a tort case to go through for something even close to what they want.
She'll probably end up doing what Rebecca Gayheart did a few years back when she killed that little boy (and in that case, though it was horribly tragic, it wasn't even the driver's fault in the same way this was Brandy's fault - because the kid darted out in front of her -- but she was smart enough to settle big time and avoid this kind of thing).
As for the whole, "they are extorting celebrity thing" - OK, that might be true - who knows - but also consider that if you or I had been responsible for that accident, we more than likely would have been charged with some sort of crime (they might have been dismissed after an investigation, but when you consider the suspicions that drugs and alcohol were involvedd and you look at the circumstances that led to the accident, anyone who wasn't famous or rich enough to hire great lawyers would be in a whole lot more trouble -- so it works both ways. She can be pardoned the whole tort thing and spend a few nights in jail, and then maybe be forced to go to trial for manslaughter -- or she cna remain fee and have to pay money to fight a tort claim that has little merit anyway.
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May 26, 2007 2:55 PM
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This is crazy! I agree with most of the posters. If Brandy were not famous, she would have gotten a ticket and paid a fine. Most of this civil nonsense would be handled through insurance. My stepdad was killed in a car accident that was someone else's fault. There was never any talk of jail time because it was an ACCIDENT!
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May 27, 2007 7:03 PM
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While the amount being sought in these lawsuits may be excessive, I say why not at least try. The point of lawsuits is to be punitive.
As for this being an accident, well I'm sure Brandy didn't intentionally crash into the cars. But if she was reckless (applying makeup, gabbing on her cell phone or some other distarction), then she is responsible for the accident and the death. Just because you don't mean to do something doesn't mean you aren't responsible.
There are just too many things going on in cars these days with DVD players, cell phones, people eating and making phone calls.
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May 28, 2007 11:03 AM
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Yes, Brandy probably deserves to pay something, but least we should forget it will be us that ends up paying. In most of these cases, when you have auto insurance, especially if you have collision and additional riders, like accidental death.
It is the insurance company that will pay. Brady will not pay directly. The insurance company will then pass those payout's along to us the insured when our policies come up for renewal.
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May 28, 2007 1:32 PM
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