Chris Brown’s former housekeeper has agreed to accept $9.5 million over the 2020 dog attack that left her disfigured, instead of going back to court to fight for more, Rolling Stone reports.
The Chris Brown housekeeper, Maria Avila, won a $12.9 million verdict from a Los Angeles jury in June. Brown later asked for a new trial, arguing the amount was excessive. This week, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Huey P. Cotton agreed that the award was too high and gave Avila a choice: accept $9.5 million or face a new trial focused only on how much money she should get. Her deadline to decide was Friday.
The judge ruled there was not enough evidence to support the amounts the jury gave for permanent nerve damage and future pain and suffering, though he said she still deserved millions for her emotional distress and ongoing pain. Avila’s lawyer, Nancy Doumanian, had pushed for the award to be cut only to $11 million, arguing her injuries were severe and permanent. In California, this process is called remittitur, which lets a judge offer a plaintiff a smaller amount as an alternative to a whole new trial over damages.
The judge rejected Brown’s other arguments for a new trial, including his claim that the verdict was unfair because jurors heard about his 2009 felony assault of Rihanna.
The attack happened on December 12, 2020, at Brown’s home in Tarzana, California. Avila was taking out the trash when Hades, Brown’s 200 pound Caucasian shepherd guard dog, attacked her. She testified that the mauling left her with severe injuries to her face and arm, extensive scarring and post traumatic stress disorder. “I will never be the same again,” she told jurors.
Brown testified that he had warned Avila and her sister, Patricia, that the dogs were not friendly and told them not to go outside without a member of his security team. Avila disputed that. Brown also said he left the property before paramedics arrived. Before the trial began, he admitted negligence under California’s dog bite law, which holds owners responsible when their dogs injure someone.
Patricia Avila, who was working with her sister when the attack happened, keeps her separate award of more than $850,000 for emotional distress, which the judge left untouched. Avila originally sued for $90 million in 2021. Her lawyers have also been working to collect the judgment, including going after money from Brown’s stadium tour with Usher.
