LOS ANGELES – Attorneys for a rapper suing Los Angeles County, alleging sheriff’s deputies threatened to shoot and kill him as he sat alone in his car in Gardena in 2022, argue in new court papers that a proposed independent mental exam of their client is too broad.
According to rapper Lebron’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, on Dec. 31, 2022, the entertainer was in his car in a parking lot on Crenshaw Boulevard waiting to meet a friend, listening to music and live streaming to his fans on Instagram when deputies arrived and lit up his car with a flashlight. One deputy opened the driver’s side door, grabbed Lebron — whose real name is Darral Scott — by the arm and tried to pull him out, the lawsuit states.
Moments later, a second deputy walked up, pulled out a canister of pepper spray and said he was going to spray the rapper, the suit states. The same deputy pointed a gun at Lebron’s chest and threatened to shoot him even though the rapper had raised his hands, telling the plaintiff, “Move your hands from right there and you’re done,” the suit states.
County attorneys want the mental evaluation conducted because Lebron maintains he suffered emotional distress, including post-traumatic stress disorder. But in court papers filed Monday with Judge Thomas D. Long, Lebron’s attorneys contend the scope of the proposed exam goes too far.
“They propose to interview him alone regarding all aspects of his entire life and mental health history with no meaningful protections of his privacy; there is no limitation that appears designed to keep the examination to those matters directly relevant to his claims and necessary for a fair resolution to the action,” Lebron’s lawyers maintain in their court papers.
The mental health expert chosen by the county proposes to ask Lebron 530 questions about his personality and any personality disorders he may suffer from, but does not plan to administer standard tests used to measure the very symptoms the rapper reports, the singer’s attorneys further contend in their court papers.
Lebron’s lawyers state in their pleadings that the county’s motion should either be denied or the court should issue an order limiting the scope of the mental examination to any emotional distress that appeared within three years prior to Dec 31, 2022, — the day of the encounter with deputies — or the time since, and the potential causes of that distress. A hearing on the county’s motion to compel the mental exam is scheduled Feb. 25.
According to the suit, body camera footage of the entire encounter recorded the deputy saying, “You take off in this car, I’m gonna shoot you” and “You put this car in drive, you’re getting one right to the chest.”
Lebron was later taken out of his car, handcuffed and detained for about 30 minutes while deputies searched the vehicle, then subsequently released him with a citation for a missing front license plate, the suit states.
The allegedly aggressive deputy is a person of influence in either the Grim Reapers or another deputy internal clique and his partner was also either involved with a deputy gang or trying to obtain membership, the suit states.
Lebron’s suit alleges civil rights violations, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault and battery by a peace officer. The rapper seeks unspecified damages.
In their previous court papers, county attorneys deny Lebron’s allegations and say the county has immunity from the causes of action.
