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Celebrity Justice
Kanye West Case in Court

Posted Apr 13th 2009 5:10PM by TMZ Staff

Kanye WestKanye West's lawyer went to court today and won a delay for West's arraignment for smashing a photog's gear.

The famous Blair Berk reps Kanye, who is charged with vandalism, battery and grand theft -- stemming from a tussle with two photogs at LAX last year. Kanye's manager, Don Crowley, is also charged with two counts of vandalism, two counts of battery and two counts of grand theft. He's repped by prominent defense attorney Shawn Chapman Holley, who wore a yellow pinstriped pant suit to court -- with a necklace.

Bond on both defendants was exonerated because they do not have criminal records and promised to appear for their arraignments.

The incident occurred on September 11, 2008. A TMZ cameraman captured the confrontation ... Kanye can clearly be seen smashing the photog's flash to the ground.

Kanye could get up to 2 1/2 years in jail if convicted on all counts. Crowley could get five years.

Berk and Holley could end up squaring off with TMZ, since our camera got wrecked during the attack. We're only slightly scared...

Kanye West

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Tags: cameraman, charged, fight, kanye west, KanyeWest, lax, not guilty, NotGuilty, paparazzo, photog, tmz

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(Page 2 of 2) Previous 15 Comments

16. Kanye... you're a fool!

Posted at 8:00PM on Apr 13th 2009 by Daytona

17. Harvey, I know you're a lawyer and everything, but if you're possible involved in the case, should you be discussing it? I don't think it's a good idea because the LAST thing we want is for these charges to get dropped because of a technicality! P.S. I'm looking for a job. I live for TMZ, have a Bachelor's in English, have journalism experience and know everything there is to know about Hollywood and entertainment. Writing/ working for TMZ would be my dream job, so I thought I would give this a shot with a comment...

Posted at 8:19PM on Apr 13th 2009 by princesspink

18. good news i like gay fish more than gay paps

Posted at 8:20PM on Apr 13th 2009 by asdfjkl;

19. what if sombody smashes something of his? would he like that? or would he wanna sue?


Posted at 9:28PM on Apr 13th 2009 by latigowill

20. all yall gay!

Posted at 9:46PM on Apr 13th 2009 by sxyma22

21. Kanye is a total turd. I hope he gets to spend the Summer behind bars, with Big Bruce as his cellmate.....drop that soap Kanye and say "Ah!"

Posted at 11:07PM on Apr 13th 2009 by squid boy

22. TMZ I thank God every day I never wanted to be famous because IF I were, I would be fighting and spitting at you guys at TMZ everyday! It's one thing to be a gossip blog but TMZ ruins peoples LIVES! Perfect Example: Chris And Rhiaana, Britney, Lindsey, I can go down a big list but there's not enough room.

Posted at 1:57AM on Apr 14th 2009 by V-Dogg

23. this guy is a sad wanna bee



war korn!!!!!!!!

Posted at 5:23AM on Apr 14th 2009 by Rap must die !!!!!!

24. You would think it was funny when the cameras got smashed, Joe, because you are a moron and your hero is a wuss.

Posted at 8:27AM on Apr 14th 2009 by Winsome Davis III

25. What's a celebrity to do when they don't want their picture taken ? they can't ask them to stop because they are already filming, they don't want to walk around like Michael Jackson's kids (all wrapped up like mummies) What to do ? Kick nosy ass TMZ butt .....

Posted at 10:13AM on Apr 14th 2009 by Ranxerox

26. why hasn't woody harrelson been arrested? not only did he smash the camera, but he also assaulted the photog. where's the outrage for that? what he did was far worse than what kanye did but kanye is the one facing criminal charges?

Posted at 10:21AM on Apr 14th 2009 by where's the justice

27. put him in jail, he is worthless anyway

Posted at 1:53PM on Apr 14th 2009 by xxx

28. It's a scam - we all saw what he did and if they made him do 1 minute jail time it would be a mockery of justice for sure. It's only a media and money grab by the prosecution. Kanye - we still love you and you are not a gay fish!

Posted at 10:42AM on Apr 14th 2009 by Pearl80

29. I hope they jail this talentless nerd for at least 10 years. He is a total embarrassment to all the great black artistes. Someone is intentionally pushing this worthless circus clown to make blacks look bad. Any crackhead can rap better than him. He cant sing, dance, talk, dress. He also looks retarded. When james brown said the music has died. Its thrash like West who killed the music. Take it from someone who has been around. I listen to everything from The beatles to Bob marley, all the great R&b, reggae, Soft rock, etc.

Posted at 2:37PM on Apr 14th 2009 by sa

30. and T.I. have illegal guns and gets a year..and we wonder why our economy is strugglings, is cant determine what important and whats not

Posted at 5:54PM on Apr 14th 2009 by wow

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