Ashanti took the stand in a New York courtroom on Tuesday to face a man who has been convicted of stalking her, according to the New York Daily News.
The 36 year old man, Devar, is on trial a second time. The singer testified that she and her family have been harassed since 2009. The Daily News reports that he spent two years behind bars for the 2009 offenses, and that the contact allegedly started again in 2013 despite a court order to stay away from Ashanti and her family.
“I was extremely scared and nervous. I had no idea what he was capable of. I felt unsafe,” Ashanti told the jury about messages he sent on Twitter in July of 2013.
Devar is representing himself in court. His defense, as quoted by the Daily News, is that he only sent non threatening written messages on a social site, and that Ashanti had the ability to stop him by using the block button. Because he is acting as his own lawyer, he was allowed to cross examine the singer, and he asked her questions about her acting career. According to the report, the judge shut down several of his questions as irrelevant. Ashanti’s mother and sister were also cross examined.
“It was horrible,” Ashanti said as she left the courthouse Tuesday. The case was set to continue the next day.
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