After losing defamation case against Kardashian-Jenners, the former star of 'Rob and Chyna' accuses Judge Gregory W. Alarcon of showing an 'undeniably hostile and extremely biased' attitude against her and her legal team.
- May 11, 2022
AceShowbiz - The Kardashian-Jenner family attorney has reacted to Blac Chyna's latest filing, in which she accused a judge in her defamation case against the reality TV family of being "extremely biased." Responding to the claims, the lawyer dubbed the "Rob & Chyna" alum's filing "a baseless effort to save face."
The Kardashians' lawyer told TMZ on Tuesday, May 10 that while Blac and her attorney might be "upset" about their loss at the trial, "their effort to make a scapegoat of Judge [Gregory W.] Alarcon is frivolous, dishonest, and deserving of sanctions." The attorney went on to note the fact that the 33-year-old model's legal team didn't have an issue like this with the judge until "after the jury found against her client."
Earlier that day, the outlet obtained the peremptory challenge filed by Blac, born Angela Renee White, in which she claimed that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gregory W. Alarcon "exhibited an 'undeniably hostile and extremely biased' attitude towards her and [her attorney] Ms. [Lynne] Ciani since April 19 and April 20, 2022." The court documents further noted that the judge's alleged bias impacted several parts of the case.
Blac insisted that judge Gregory's alleged bias affected "the jury making 'key liability verdicts in her favor.' " Rob Kardashian's ex-fiancee further said in the peremptory challenge that she was "denied due process with regard to the jury instructions and special verdict form."
Upon learning of the matter, the Kardashian family's attorney Michael G. Rhode filed a 20-page opposition. In it, Michael argued that Blac and her attorney "nonetheless proceeded without complaint as Judge Alarcon presided over a 10-day trial" despite her apparent issues with him.
"In the days and weeks that followed, [Blac] and her counsel had ample time to raise her completely misguided allegations about Judge Alarcon's impartiality, along with numerous opportunities to brief evidentiary issues, jury instructions, and the special verdict form," the document stated. "Indeed, Judge Alarcon explicitly invited Ms. [Lynne] Ciani to brief issues relating to jury instructions and evidentiary issues, such as sustained objections for hearsay and lack of authenticity, which she never did."
The legal papers continued, "Instead, Ms. [Lynne] Ciani first 'raised several of the [issues discussed in her statement of disqualification] in a written filing' after the jury had begun deliberating." Additionally, the famous family's attorney stated that Blac's "dissatisfaction with the Court's ordinary exercise of its discretion in overseeing trial is irrelevant to Judge Alarcon's capacity for impartiality in a future trial."
Michael also urged Blac's "statement of disqualification be stricken, that her request for disqualification be denied." He added that Blac's lawyer should "be sanctioned in an amount to be determined in [the family's] separately served noticed motion."
On May 2, the Kardashian-Jenner family came out victorious in the fierce legal battle against Blac, who sought over $100 million in damages in her defamation lawsuit against the famous family. The jury decided no damages will be awarded to Blac as they didn't find any of the Kardashians' attempts to cancel the second season of "Rob & Chyna" with their influence.
However, the jury discovered that Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner acted to protect their own economic interest. They also found out that Kris, Kim, Kylie and Khloe Kardashian knew that Blac had a contract with the E! network. They later pointed out that they didn't find that their conduct prevented Blac from performing under that contract.
