By Chris Richburg
Despite his recent legal troubles, rapper DMX received some good news yesterday (May 16), when a Maryland judge overturned a $1.5 million defamation judgment against him.
The judgment, which was handed down in January, came as a result of a defamation of character lawsuit brought against DMX by Monique Wayne.
The suit stemmed from allegations the rapper (born Earl Simmons) made during a 2006 interview with Sister 2 Sister magazine.
In the story, Simmons claimed he was raped by Wayne while staying at a hotel in Baltimore in 2003.
Simmons’ comments triggered a $6 million lawsuit that was filed by Wayne in Prince George's County Circuit Court in Upper Marlboro, Md., in October 2006.
The rapper was later ordered to pay Wayne $518,400 in compensation and $1 million in punitive penalties after missing a scheduled court hearing for the case in January.
Soon after, Simmons hired The Murphy Firm, a Baltimore-based law firm, to dispute the ruling.
According to reports, the New York native was unaware that a hearing was scheduled to take place.
Despite the initial outcome, Hassan Murphy, a managing partner of The Murphy Firm, was happy to see his client vindicated by the new ruling, which was handed down by Judge Thomas P. Smith.
"Today a very large judgment was vacated by Judge Smith," Murphy told AllHipHop.com in a statement. "The judge clearly agreed with us that Mr. Simmons was never properly notified and therefore he threw out the judgment."
Although the overturned judgment ended Simmons' week on a good note, the rapper is still mired in legal drama.
Earlier this month, the rapper was arrested on numerous motor vehicle charges stemming from a January incident that involved him driving 114 mph on a local highway with a suspended license.
On Thursday (May 15), Simmons pleaded not guilty to various felony drug charges and animal cruelty charges, after arriving an hour late to a court appearance in front of Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Lisa VandenBerg.
The court appearance followed a May 9 raid of the rapper’s Cave Creek, Arizona home that came after a seven month investigation into animal cruelty charges.