CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

NFL quarterback Tarvaris Jackson -- who reportedly made more than $13 MILLION during his 9 year career -- requested a public defender in his assault case ... claiming he has no cash to his name.

It's all laid out in court docs obtained by TMZ Sports ... stemming from a June 24th incident in which the ex-Seahawks QB allegedly pulled a gun on his wife and threatened to shoot her.

33-year-old Jackson was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and faces prison time if convicted -- but instead of locking up an expensive high powered attorney, Jackson requested a public defender ... which costs exactly $FREE-99.

In the court docs, Jackson says he has no income, no savings, no banks accounts, stocks, etc ... all he owns is a $100,000 car.

But the judge didn't buy TJ's broke claims -- denying his request for a free public defender -- essentially forcing the QB to pay for his own lawyer.

The Prince criminal death investigation is in high gear, and authorities are scrutinizing two doctors ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ.

Our sources say authorities are taking a hard look at Prince's primary physician Dr. Michael Schulenberg and renowned addiction specialist Dr. Howard Kornfeld, to determine if either of them crossed the legal line by writing prescriptions to Prince or otherwise facilitating the singer's acquisition of meds.

We're told three agencies are deep into the investigation -- the FBI, the DEA and the Carver County District Attorney's Office.

Prince died after OD'ing on Fentanyl, an extremely powerful narcotic. TMZ broke various stories that the singer was addicted to Percocet and almost died from the drug 6 days before his ultimate passing.

We also broke the story ... hours before Prince's death, he was photographed at a Walgreens near his home in Paisley Park pacing and looking anxious as someone went inside to get a prescription.

Dr. Schulenberg was at Prince's home when his body was discovered, but says he was only there to inform Prince of some test results. Dr. Kornfeld's son was also at the house with a backpack loaded with synthetic opiates to treat addiction. Kornfeld's lawyer says none of the opiates went into Prince's system.

As for the two doctors, Kornfeld is still actively practicing in Marin County, CA but Dr. Schulenberg has been MIA from his med clinic since Prince died in April.

Our sources say if state charges are filed, the case will not go to the grand jury ... the DA will make the decision. We're told it's unclear how long the investigation will take, but it could be several months.

Birdman demands respek from others, but isn't a giver ... so claims a guy who owns the now-famous phrase and is threatening a lawsuit.

A guy named JV, who owns a clothing company, got a trademark for the word "Respek" back in 2005 and has been hawking shirts and hats with the word for years on his website ThisRespekwear.com

JV is indignant that Bridman's rant, "Put some respek on it," has caught fire and the mogul has reportedly made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling jackets, shirts and other schmatas with the phrase.

JV's lawyer fired off a letter to Birdman, threatening to sue. In the letter, obtained by TMZ, the lawyer doesn't specifically ask Birdman to stop selling the items, but just says "call me."

Translation ... he wants a cut of the action.

Adnan Syed -- whose '99 murder conviction was documented on the popular "Serial" podcast -- was just granted a retrial by a Maryland judge.

Syed won his motion Thursday after a judge ruled his original lawyer failed to cross-examine an expert witness.

Adnan has always proclaimed his innocence in the murder of Hae Min Lee.

When a reporter asked Syed's attorney, C. Justin Brown, if the turn of events would have been possible without the podcast, he said, "I don't think so."

Seattle Seahawks QB Trevone Boykin owes his lawyer a high five -- 'cause he just cut a great deal in his Alamo Bowl bar fight case ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Boykin was initially charged with misdemeanor assault with bodily injury for attacking a police officer during a very violent evening at a San Antonio bar on Dec. 31st ... days before he was set to lead TCU in the Alamo Bowl.

But according to the Bexar County Criminal D.A.'s office, prosecutors agreed to reduce the charge down to a simple resisting arrest -- and he won't serve a single day in jail.

Instead, he was sentenced to 1 year of deferred adjudication probation -- which means if he completes the terms of his probation, it won't stay on his record.

The terms -- he must attend alcohol awareness and anger management classes, pay a $1,500 fine, submit an apology letter to the arresting officer and complete 80 hours of community service.

Pretty good ... considering there are witnesses who say he ATTACKED A COP!!!

Disney Channel superstar Debby Ryan is walking away from her DUI arrest without a day of jail time, but she'll be on probation for 3 years ... TMZ has learned.

Debby pled no contest to reckless driving. In addition to the probation, she also must complete 3 months in a DUI program and perform community service.

We broke the story ... the star of "Jessie" was arrested in April for drunk driving after slamming her Audi into a Mercedes. During Thursday's hearing in L.A. Debby got 2 misdemeanor DUI counts dismissed in exchange for her plea.

It's a good deal for Debby, but not uncommon for first time DUI offenders.

She has to make another court appearance in September to determine how much she owes for the damaged Mercedes.

The man who contacted USC claiming he had the school's copy of O.J. Simpson's Heisman Trophy has been sentenced in the missing Heisman caper ... and will NOT do any jail time.

The story is bizarre ... Lewis Starks had claimed he bartered for the trophy after it was stolen from Heritage Hall at USC back in 1994.

(FYI, both the player and the school get a trophy to display. O.J.'s trophy was reportedly purchased by a private collector in 1999.)

Starks was adamant he was NOT the guy who broke the case and made off with the statue -- but says he later traded it in exchange for a Honda Accord and $500 cash.

He contacted USC about the trophy in 2014 -- which sparked a police investigation. He was later charged with receiving stolen property.

Now, we've learned he copped a deal with prosecutors -- pleading no contest to receiving stolen property ... and in exchange he was sentenced to 3 years probation.

Bill Cosby accuser Chloe Goins has no clue what it means to be in a "relationship" with someone -- and that's one reason Cosby wants her sexual assault case thrown out of court.

TMZ obtained new docs Cosby's attorneys filed refuting Goins' allegations in which she claims he sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion. She also sued him under "domestic violence" laws, but Cosby's attorneys say that's impossible.

In the docs, they say domestic violence doesn't apply because there would have to be, at the very least, a "dating relationship." Cosby's team says under law that's defined as "frequent, intimate associations" -- and Chloe says she first met Cosby the night of the alleged incident.

They add it's just "common sense" they were not dating.

The man who insists he's the rightful owner of several Jay Z classic recordings is going after NYPD, LAPD and a slew of lawyers for seizing them -- and he wants a TON of money for his trouble.

Chauncey Mahan is the studio engineer who sued Jay Z over the masters for "Life and Times of S. Carter" and "The Dynasty" albums. Jay won that lawsuit, but now Mahan wants just about everyone else to pay up.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Mahan rips Jay Z's attorneys for telling cops the tapes were stolen property and part of an extortion plot. He also blames L.A. cops for seizing the tapes from his storage facility -- and cops in NY, where the recordings were actually made at Baseline Studios.

Oh yeah, he's suing the owner of the studio too.

He's pissed because LAPD is still holding the recordings, which he still believes belong to him, at least partially. For good measure he's also suing NYC and L.A. for $50 million each.

Here's the rest of the damages, in his eyes:
- LAPD $10 million
- NYPD $10 million
- Roc Nation lawyers $80 million
- Studio owner $20 million

N.W.A's former manager Jerry Heller just got most of his lawsuit over "Straight Outta Compton" shot down in court -- but the case is still going forward because of one implication.

Heller sued the film's producers, feeling it was filled with defamatory lies about his dealings with the group. A federal judge didn't see it that way, ruling most of the movie did NOT defame Heller ... so he dismissed the suit.

However, the judge did rule Heller might have a point when it comes to 2 scenes. The first shows Heller (played by Paul Giamatti) telling Ice Cube, lawyers "are paid to make trouble" and "create problems where none exists." He was discouraging Cube from getting a lawyer to look over a contract.

The second scene shows Ice Cube telling a reporter about the incident with Heller.

That part of the case will go forward, but Heller still must prove the interaction with Cube didn't happen and that it was written into the script with malice.

Eric Dickerson says there's NO WAY Freddie Gibbs -- the rap star engaged to his daughter -- is guilty of raping a woman in Austria ... telling TMZ Sports he "supports Freddie 100%."

Gibbs was arrested earlier this month -- after two women reportedly claimed the rapper and his security agent drugged them after a 2015 show in Austria and raped them at Gibbs' hotel.

For his part, Gibbs has adamantly denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to fight the charges.

FYI, Freddie is a big name in rap -- having formerly been signed to Young Jeezy's CTE World record label, and been featured on songs with the likes of Gucci Mane, Action Bronson and E-40.

Gibbs popped the question to Dickerson's daughter, Erica, last March ... so we contacted ED to ask how his family is handling the situation.

"I don’t know too much about the specifics of the situation," Dickerson told TMZ Sports ... "but I do know Freddie and I know his character ... I believe him."

"I talked to Erica (his daughter) and she said that she knows Freddie and knows that he would never be capable of doing something like that."

Dickerson says he's also been in contact with Freddie -- and offered up some advice on how to handle the situation.

"When I talked to Freddie, I told him the main focus is to stay positive. He told me 'I will fight this the whole way. I don’t want to go through this without clearing my name 100%.'"

Louis Tomlinson has had it with his baby mama denying him access to his child, so he's now going to court to seek joint custody ... TMZ has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation tell us Briana Jungwirth has been "inconsistent" in giving Louis access to 5-month-old Freddie Reign ... especially recently.

Louis wants to be a real father and present in Freddie's life, so he's going to court not just seeking joint physical and legal custody, but a 50/50 split in terms of the division of time each spends with their son.

The One Direction singer, we're told, is paying Briana around $15k a month in child support, and a judge will now set whatever amount is deemed appropriate. Louis is also renting a $1 million house for Briana and the kid in Calabasas.

The man who discovered Wiz Khalifa says the rapper owes his company more than $2 million after not ponying up big chunks of dough.

Rostrum Records -- founded by Benjy Grinberg -- claims in a new lawsuit it had a deal with Wiz for a 15% cut of touring and music royalties when the rapper started back in 2005. The company says it's also owed 20% of any merch sales.

The company claims Wiz has earned a ton of money in touring, merchandise and music sales recently and Rostrum wants $2 mil to make things right.

Justin Bieber narrowly escaped a situation that could have landed him in jail ... TMZ has learned.

We broke the story, Justin's lawyer, Shawn Holley, went to court at 8:30 AM June 9th and got a judge to end Bieber's probation in the egging case. As we reported, one of the conditions of his probation was that he obey all laws, and if he didn't the judge could throw him in jail.

Turns out, less than 10 hours before the hearing, Justin threw a punch at a guy after the NBA Finals in Cleveland. That could certainly have triggered a probation violation.

We've learned the court hearing was not scheduled in advance. Holley and the D.A. just walked into court and asked the judge to end Bieber's probation a month early.

It sure looks like Holley did Yeoman's work and beat the news before it spread. Our sources say, however, that Holley and the D.A. had actually talked amongst themselves days before about going to court and they say it's just coincidence.

Hugh Hefner's no rapist enabler ... so dragging his name into Bill Cosby's sexual assault case is ABSURD ... so claims Hef in new legal docs obtained by TMZ.

The Playboy magazine founder just asked the judge to dismiss him from Chloe Goins' lawsuit against Cosby, arguing the suit reeks of a desperate ploy to drum up publicity and force Cosby to settle.

Hefner goes on to say he's never been implicated in a single act of sexual impropriety against a woman.

Trevone Boykin's agent is sorely mistaken if he thinks his client has already cut a plea deal for his Alamo Bowl bar fight.