Overview
- A Los Angeles judge declared a mistrial after finding that a juror violated instructions by researching the case online and sharing those findings with other jurors, contaminating the panel.
- The judge ordered lawyers to begin picking a new jury from a pool already assembled and told Chris Brown to return to court Thursday to resume the trial.
- The lawsuit seeks roughly $90 million and alleges Brown's Caucasian shepherd attacked housekeeper Maria Avila in December 2020, causing wounds that required emergency surgery and left lasting disfigurement and nerve and vision damage.
- During pretrial proceedings lawyers said Brown now accepts that Avila suffered damages but disputes how much he or his companies should pay, so the retrial will focus on liability scope and the size of any award.
- The court has limited unrelated prior-bad-act evidence by barring reference to Brown's 2009 assault conviction, and the dog involved, called Hades, was later found in Humboldt County and euthanized.