14 DAY TRIAL // Rapper Da Brat, fresh off serving a 3+-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to aggravated assault after she attacked a one-time NFL cheerleader with a bottle in a club in 2007, has just been ordered by a judge to pay a fortune to the victim in compensation.
The Grammy-winning artist attacked the one-time Atlanta Falcons cheerleader, Shayla Stevens, with a bottle of rum, smashing it on her head. The judge assigned on the case heard that Da Brat, real name Shawntae Harris, launched at her victim from behind after a verbal disagreement.
The rapper served over 3 years behind bars and is looking forward to 200 hours of community service and 7 years of probation as well. She should also be getting her checkbook ready because the judge in a civil suit filed by Stevens in 2009 sided with the victim.
Stevens, who was working as a hostess at the club where the altercation took place, filed a lawsuit against the rapper asking for compensation for “permanent facial scarring, neurological impairment and severe mental pain” resulted from the attack, TMZ reports.
The judge sided with her, awarding her a total of $6.4 million (€4.6 million) in damages, the celebrity publication notes.
“The jury wasn't finished. They just awarded the victim another $2.7 million [€1.9 million] as added punishment for Da Brat's violent bottle assault. The jury has already awarded ex-NFL cheerleader Shayla Stevens $3.7 million [€2.7 million] to cover her injuries and past/future loss of earnings,” the e-zine says.
This wasn’t the first incident of such a violent nature that Da Brat was involved in either. In 2000, she beat another woman with a gun, putting her in hospital. The victim needed 6 stitches on her head, where Da Brat had burst it open in the attack.
This altercation also took place in a club, over seating arrangements in the VIP area. Not to make light of a very serious situation, but Da Brat seems to have no filter when it comes to her temper whenever she’s in one such establishment.
For the time being, reps for the rapper are yet to address the decision of the jury in the civil lawsuit filed against their client by the former NFL cheerleader. Da Brat has been active on social media since the verdict but she’s been posting photos of a young Jermaine Dupri, not discussing her legal – and financial, as of late – troubles.