Cardi B scored a legal victory this week ahead of a trial next month over claims she assaulted a security guard in 2018. According to Rolling Stone, a judge ruled in the Bronx rapper’s favor on Wednesday (July 30); granting a request from Cardi’s legal team. Cardi has maintained that the security guard, Emani Ellis, was the aggressor, trying to film her at her OB-GYN’s office while she was visibly pregnant with her first child, but before she publicly announced the news.
A Los Angeles County judge granted the request from Cardi’s attorneys to split the trial into two parts and only allow mention of her finances if she’s found liable during the initial phase. The judge also agreed to block any mention of so-called “prior bad acts.”
Born Belcalis Almánzar, Cardi argued in court filings that any mention of her prior “alleged altercations with third parties, police reports, obscenities, drug-related incidents, gang affiliation, exotic dancing, and media coverage” would be “highly prejudicial” and distract from the facts of the case, to which the judge agreed.
Ellis’ attorney asked if the ruling meant he couldn’t ask Cardi whether she’d struck someone before. The judge said that was off limits. Judge Ian C. Fusselman said Cardi would have to initiate that line of questioning.
“If she says, ‘I’ve never hit anyone,’ and you have credible evidence that she hit someone before, then yeah, you can bring that up,” the judge said. “But you can’t force her to open the door.”
The judge ruled that Almánzar’s prior acts “have no apparent probative value,” so any references “would be unduly prejudicial and likely to confuse the jury and result in an undue waste of time.”
Judge Fusselman also granted two other motions that asked to block testimony from a former police officer and a psychologist.
The trial is set to begin Aug. 11 in Alhambra, California.
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