Justin is to be deposed for a second time and forced to answer questions about on-off girlfriend Selena Gomez, as part of a civil assault and negligence lawsuit filed by a paparazzo.
Justin Bieber has been judge-ordered to a second deposition to answer probes he avoided in the first. These will include questions about his on-off girlfriend Selena Gomez. The order comes as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by a paparazzo who alleges the singer ordered his bodyguards to attack him last year.
Bieber will be deposed by Mark DiCowden — the attorney for paparazzo Jeffrey Binion — the same lawyer who ran expert rings around the singer when he was first deposed in Miami on March 6.
According to TMZ , no date is yet set for the second deposition, but it will be videotaped.
The site reports documents have been filed ordering Bieber to the second deposition.
This is in response to a motion DiCowden put before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel just days after Justin’s infamous videotaped deposition.
At the time, DiCowden asked Zabel to “Order Justin Bieber to submit to additional deposition questions within 30 days concerning Selena Gomez .”
DiCowden’s motion noted what viewers saw in the suspiciously quickly leaked videos posted by TMZ, in which the Biebs was seen in various states of opposition to questioning.
These included the 20-year-old being evasive, flippant, pretend to fall asleep, not understand questions, then actually not understand questions – and in one instance – use profanity, for which he apologized.
In March, DiCowden additionally asked the judge to jettison Bieber’s lawyers off the lawsuit, writing: “The California lawyers acted in bad faith and adversely impacted the administration of justice.”
At the first deposition Bieber’s reluctance to cooperate with DiCowden was compounded by his refusal to answer questions about Gomez. Instead, he repeatedly told opposing counsel, “Don’t ask me about her again.”
A clip revealed Bieber’s Los Angeles lawyer Howard Weitzman then prevented DiCowden from probing his client further on Gomez.
Weitzman then instructed the singer to step out of the hearing, which prompted a 15 minute recess.
The standoff was manna to news outlets, which unanimously condemned Bieber’s deposition performance.
Another effect of Bieber’s emotional reaction to Gomez grilling was to alert DiCowden and all the other lawyers in the singer’s other civil lawsuits that Selena is his achilles heel, and could be used to exert pressure.
Paparazzo Jeffrey Binion claims Bieber ordered his bodyguard, Hugo Hesny [Hesny is also being sued] and other guards, to assault him after he was spotted taking photos of the singer outside Miami’s The Hit Factory recording studio on June 5, 2013. He alleges Hesny gripped him in a choke hold and displayed a firearm while the singer’s other guards took his camera and memory card to delete snaps.
In May, DiCowden and Binion were denied the right to sue for punitive damages after Zabel ruled:
“Jeffrey Binion failed to make a reasonable showing by evidence in the record or… that a reasonable basis for recovery of punitive damages exists in this case.”
“Without making such a reasonable showing, Jeffrey Binion is not permitted to seek punitive damages against Defendants Justin Bieber and Hugo Hesny in this proceeding.”
Others set to be deposed in the Binion lawsuit include Gomez and Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun .
DiCowden wants to question Gomez, ostensibly, because she was allegedly a witness to an incident back in May 2012 during which a paparazzo alleges he was punched and kicked by Bieber. At the time, the pap was taking photos of the then couple strolling around Calabasas’ The Commons shopping mall.
It’s alleged Gomez got out of her car and tried to calm Bieber down during his face-off with paparazzo Jose Osmin Hernandez Duran, who is suing Bieber in a civil case.
Ironically, Gossip Extra is reporting Gomez has already been secretly deposed in the Duran lawsuit with surprising results.
The South Florida tabloid reveals lawyers for Duran and the 21-year-old songstress “agreed to keep the deposition quiet and signed a confidentiality agreement.”
However, a source at the deposition which reportedly took place at a lawyer’s office in Los Angeles, said that after a two-hour grilling Gomez couldn’t be cracked.
“In a nutshell, she doesn’t know much and didn’t see much about the incident,” the source reportedly told the outlet. “It wasn’t like Justin Bieber’s deposition back in Miami. Selena’s a professional, and she couldn’t be rattled.”
One of Bieber’s lawyers reportedly sat in on Gomez’s deposition .
Meanwhile, Braun unsuccessfully fought for a protective order to avoid being questioned by DiCowden after failing to turn up to his pre-booked May 15 deposition, arguing that the aim was to embarrass Bieber.
Gossip Extra reports Braun has now been judge-ordered to give his testimony before July 21 in what will be a videotaped deposition.
High profile criminal defense attorney Roy Black, who represents Bieber in his DUI case, is now representing Braun and the singer in the Binion case.
Bieber deposition : Round 2 is coming to a small screen near you.