A Los Angeles The filmmaker, who said he was brutally mauled by French Montana's Tibetan mountain dog four years ago, is seeking $2.3 million in a default judgment against the rapper and record producer.
Plaintiff Jason Leyva says the 2019 attack left him with permanent injuries that are affecting his career prospects and his ability to care for his young daughter. He says French Montana, whose legal name is Karim Kharbouch, has not responded to multiple attempts to serve him with the complaint, so the court should step in and accept the default. On Wednesday, a judge set a hearing for March 25 to consider the request.
“I entered the premises and, without warning or provocation, the dog bit and bit me, tearing at my shoulder and hip causing severe injuries that required stitches and injured my lumbar spine,” Leyva said in an affidavit. which was signed and filed. with the court on Tuesday. “I feel persistent, intractable pain when I bend, stand, or sit for long periods of time.”
Leyva's plea for aggravated assault comes two years after a Los Angeles jury awarded a different man $129,500 for his injuries after a separate attack at Kharbouch's Hidden Hills home. In that earlier incident, a dog identified as a “large German shepherd” mauled plaintiff Juan Lomeli as he tried to clean Kharbouch's pool in May 2017. Kharbouch tried to fight the case, claiming Lomeli didn't text before entering the property and that the dog had never bitten anyone or displayed “dangerous” tendencies prior to the alleged attack.
With the new case, the filmmaker alleges that Kharbouch's Tibetan Mountain Dog had an “evil nature” that “was known or should have been known” by the artist that led to the alleged attack on November 3, 2019. Leyva's request for 2,287 .$125 total The damages include the $1.5 million he is seeking for pain and suffering, the $10,000 he already owes in doctor bills and the $350,000 he expects to spend on future medical expenses. “Due to this chronic back pain that I have not been able to get relief from, I am seeking further medical consultation to see if I may be a candidate for lumbar or shoulder surgery. If I am not, I fear I will suffer intense, excruciating pain for the rest of my life,” he wrote in his statement to the court this week.
Efforts to reach Kharbouch or a representative were not immediately successful Wednesday. “I don't know where Mr. Montana is. We're trying to reach him,” says Leyva's attorney, Marc J. Katzman Rolling rock.
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