Snoop Dogg Cleared in Assault Case

A civil jury in Santa Monica, California have cleared rapper Snoop Dogg of assault and battery claims. Jurors found that Snoop (Calvin Broadus) did not hit Richard Monroe Jr., who came up on stage during a concert in Washington in 2005.

Monroe claimed that the rapper hit him with a microphone after he jumped on stage and put his hands on the star’s shoulders.

The jury did find that Monroe suffered serious injuries during the concert and awarded him $US 449,400 in damages, a sum significantly lower than the $US 22 million sought by Monroe when he sued Snoop in 2006.

While it was found that the rapper did not personally owe Monroe anything, the damages are to be paid by Doggystyle Records (founded by Snoop), rapper ‘Soopafly’ and other unnamed parties.

The superstar was not present for the verdict on Friday (08 May 2009), but he did attend part of the trial and testified, denying that he struck Monroe.