Tasha K claimed she should’ve been allowed to bring up Cardi B’s gang ties at their defamation trial.
The vlogger continued her efforts to appeal a $4 million court loss to Cardi B. Tasha K’s lawyer Olga Izmaylova argued a Georgia judge wrongfully prevented her client from introducing gang affiliations as character evidence in the trial.
“In order for the jury to determine whether [Cardi B] has been defamed, placed in a false light, and emotionally distress, the jury must know about [her] gang affiliation because it is an extremely relevant part of who [she] is,” Izmaylova explained. “[Tasha K] made the same argument in response to [Cardi B’s] request to exclude [the rapper’s] own social media comments. The district court prevented this evidence from coming in.”
She added, “The district court applied the incorrect legal standard by determining that character evidence was irrelevant and inadmissible in a defamation action and, therefore, the district court has made a clear error of judgment and should be overturned.”
A jury found Tasha K liable for defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress in January. But her attorney suggested the jury didn’t hear all of the relevant evidence about Cardi B in the case. Izmaylova believed Tasha K, whose real name is Latasha Kebe, deserved a new trial.
“[Tasha K has] shown a substantial prejudicial effect because it’s extremely likely that the erroneously excluded character evidence would have impacted the jury’s verdict, had the jury been able to consider it,” Izmaylova contended. “The fact that a jury unanimously reached the conclusion that [Cardi B] was telling the truth and [Tasha K was] lying does not demonstrate that [the latter] acted with actual malice.”
The lawyer concluded, “This Court should reverse the Amended Judgment and remand this case for a new trial.”
