A Los Angeles judge called the jury's $12.9 million verdict "excessive" and offered Brown's former housekeeper a reduced $9.5 million payout or a retrial on damages.
A Los Angeles judge has handed Chris Brown a second shot in the dog attack case that produced a $12.9 million verdict against him. Judge Huey P. Cotton of the Los Angeles County Superior Court ruled on Tuesday that the jury's award to Brown's former housekeeper, Maria Avila, was excessive, and trimmed it to $9.5 million. If Avila rejects the reduced figure, Brown is entitled to a new trial limited to damages alone.
The move, a remittitur, leaves the jury's finding of liability intact. A new jury, if one is ever seated, would decide only how much Avila collects.
Avila was mauled by Brown's Caucasian shepherd, Hades, on December 12, 2020, while working at the singer's Tarzana home. Testifying at the June trial, she described severe injuries to her arm and face, heavy scarring, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Cotton did not excuse Brown from paying. His order directs compensation for emotional distress and what the judge called "persistent pain" from the attack. Where he parted with the jury was on the extent of the damage, writing that there was "insufficient evidence of extensive permanent nerve damage."
Brown admitted negligence under California's dog-bite statute before trial but disputed how badly Avila was hurt. He also argued jurors were swayed by mention of his felony conviction for assaulting Rihanna. Cotton rejected that, found the trial was fair, and left a separate $855,000 award to Avila's sister Patricia intact.
The ruling lands mid-tour for Brown, who is co-headlining a run of arena dates with Usher. Even amid the court fight, he has kept up his Nigerian collaborations, from Wizkid on "Call Me Every Day" to Lojay on the "Monalisa" remix.
Avila has been pursuing a share of Brown's tour earnings to satisfy the judgment, and she has not yet said whether she will accept the $9.5 million or force a retrial.
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