Despite current reports, Nicki Minaj may still be on the hook for harassing the woman that accused her husband of rape. Lawyers are saying that the woman is planning to refile the lawsuit in California, the state where the chart-topping rap star lives.
According to Rolling Stone, Jennifer Hough is not backing away from saying that the “Barbie Tingz” rapper harassed her and her family for naming her husband in a man that sexually assaulted her when she and he were teens.
The first lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of New York. Jurisdictional issues require the woman to refile in the state where the accused has a legal residence, her lawyer, Seven N. Gordon, argues.
“We plan to refile it in a court with proper jurisdiction,” Hough’s lawyer said to Judge James R. Cho at the Thursday morning hearing.
In the new filing, Onika Tanya Maraj (Nicki’s birth name) and Kenneth Petty will be named.
The judge asked, “If you intend to refile the action in another jurisdiction, do you intend this case to follow as well?”
The New York case, reported by AllHipHop.com, includes counts of sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress still hovering from the 1994 Petty’s attempted rape case against the woman. The lawyer said that consolidating the two cases is possible.
He noted, “We are concerned with delaying discovery in this case any longer. We believe this court is proper for those causes of action and would certainly not consolidate.”
Nicki’s lawyer responded, “This is just a frivolous gambit to avoid a sanctions motion which I told them that I would be filing shortly and for which they refuse to set a schedule.”
“As usual, they have decided to adopt a tactic without bothering to research the law,” he continued. “Had they done so, they would realize that re-filing their frivolous action in another jurisdiction will only result in another court sanctioning them.”
Petty’s lawyer, Steven David Isser said, ““The complaint lacks merit. That’s why there’s this rush for a default judgment. This case should be litigated on the merits.”
Damn … Nicki, you were almost out.
