Legal

Breonna Taylor's family attorney says the Louisville cop speaking out has a major advantage to dispute her truth ... and claims the officer's own words reveal a bias against Black people.

Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump came on "TMZ Live" Wednesday to discuss Jonathan Mattingly's claim he, nor his fellow LMPD officers, did anything illegal or racist the night they raided her apartment and shot her dead.

Crump says Mattingly is benefitting greatly from being alive to tell his version of the story ... while poor Breonna can't do the same.

As for Mattingly's insistence the cops knocked and identify themselves as law enforcement -- Crump says Kenneth Walker, Breonna's BF, has stuck to the same story since the beginning ... that they did NOT hear anyone say "police."

There's also the fact that several surrounding neighbors say they didn't hear any knocking or announcing, which Crump also thinks works against Mattingly. For his part, Mattingly says the neighbors not hearing doesn't square with the fact Walker admits he did hear knocking.

Mattingly told GMA nobody wishes more than him there was body camera footage of the raid, but Crump begs to differ. As he put it to us, Breonna's mother, Tamika Palmer, probably would like to see it way more than LMPD ... to prove her daughter was executed.

One of Michael Jackson's "Leaving Neverland" accusers just suffered a huge defeat in court ... the judge threw out his revived lawsuit over alleged abuse.

James Safechuck's 2014 lawsuit against MJ's companies -- MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures Inc. -- was brought back to life by the State of California earlier this year ... when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law extending the statute of limitations for alleged victims.

The upshot of the judge's opinion is that Safechuck and his legal team presented no facts to support their key argument -- namely, that honchos at MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures Inc. had a legal obligation to supervise MJ's behavior in the '90s ... when he allegedly abused James as a child back then.

The judge wasn't buying it, concluding MJ was the owner and sole shareholder of both of these companies, so how could his employees rein in their own boss?

The court found that since Mike was essentially the top dog, there was no evidence his subordinates had the power to supervise him. Safechuck had also argued ... while he was hanging out with MJ, the companies served a quasi-parental role -- meaning they would have had a duty to protect him.

The judge didn't bite on that either, finding James' side didn't lay out enough facts to support that claim.

James can appeal the ruling if he wants -- as it stands, however, he's lost this case against MJ's companies.

Dr. Dre's wife wants the rap mogul to put up or shut up about his so-called "ironclad prenup" as their divorce war rages on.

Nicole Young filed legal docs demanding Dre turn over the original version of the "ironclad prenup" upon which he's basing his whole divorce case. In the docs, obtained by TMZ, she says Dre's failed to produce the prenup even though the law is clear he must turn over all relevant financial, business and personal documents.

She says because Dre hasn't produced it ... she doesn't know which version of the alleged prenup he's referring to, and calls his refusal to share the info an "intentional abuse" of the divorce process.

Nicole says they got married long before they amassed the billion-dollar fortune that's now at stake -- and claims they stayed together for more than 24 years, despite Dre's "rampant and repeated marital misconduct." She doesn't offer any detail about the alleged "misconduct."

As we reported ... Nicole's already claimed she was pressured into signing the prenup back in 1996. Not to mention, she claims he tore up the prenup 2 years into the marriage, and said "he felt ashamed he had pressured me into signing." Nicole insists they've both said it was "null and void" ever since then.

Her new filing seems to be a challenge of sorts to Dre. Basically, since you acted like you tore it up 22 years ago, let me see what you're talking about now. For the record, Dre denies ever tearing it up.

Still, her request for the prenup does seem like a bit of gamesmanship ... because whoever her lawyer was when she signed the prenup should have copies.

Cameron's standing by his work as Special Prosecutor, saying he made the decision to present charges to the grand jury "that could be proven under Kentucky law."

He also says he disagrees with the judge's decision to allow the anonymous grand juror to speak publicly about the proceedings, but he's not going to appeal.

Breonna's family attorney, Ben Crump, is sounding off on AG Cameron, calling his handling of the grand jury a "despicable miscarriage of justice" ... and accusing him of white-washing what was presented in her case.

Crump claims Cameron did not allow the grand jury to do what it has the legal right to do, and he's calling for a new independent prosecutor to take over.

An anonymous grand juror in the Breonna Taylor case has just revealed the grand jury never deliberated homicide charges against the police officers involved in the raid because the Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron never presented them.

Anonymous grand juror #1 released an explosive statement Tuesday after a judge granted the juror's request to come forward and speak publicly about the court proceedings and offered the option to other grand jurors, as well.

This juror said, "The grand jury was not presented any charges other than the three Wanton Endangerment charges against [ex-cop Brett] Hankison."

The grand juror added, "The grand jury did not have homicide offenses explained to them. The grand jury never heard anything about those laws. Self defense or justification was never explained either."

As for why the grand jury was never presented with the option to weigh bringing homicide charges against the police officers who raided Breonna's apartment and shot her? The grand juror said, "Questions were asked about additional charges and the grand jury was told there would be none because the prosecutor didn’t feel they could make them stick. The grand jury didn’t agree that certain actions were justified, nor did it decide the indictment should be the only charges in the Breonna Taylor case."

As we reported ... the anonymous grand juror filed a motion with the Jefferson County Circuit Court asking a judge to lift the gag order for grand jurors who want to go public -- because the juror felt like Cameron hung them out to dry when he announced Hankison's indictment.

As you know Hankison and the 2 other cops involved were not charged with shooting and killing Breonna. Instead, Hankison was only indicted for firing his weapon into an apartment neighboring Breonna's.

Remember ... there's also grand jury audio that recently revealed important information about the central issue in the case -- whether the Grand Jurors were adequately informed about whether cops identified themselves before breaching the door to Breonna's apartment.

According to the audio, a police lieutenant testified one of the neighbors claimed to have not heard police identify themselves. It's unclear why the neighbor didn't testify in person before the grand jury. We know there were 12 neighbors in all who said they did NOT hear the cops ID themselves.

Jenelle Evans and her baby daddy, Nathan Griffith, finally have a plan to share custody of their son -- and it's gonna require a third adult ... Nate's ma.

A judge has signed off on the custody arrangement between the exes to parent their son, Kaiser ... and it includes a detailed schedule. According to the docs, Jenelle retains primary physical custody of the 6-year-old, while Nathan gets him every other weekend.

Grandma Doris will care for the boy every 5th weekend, and when Nate can't do it, his mom can fill in on his behalf.

Kaiser will also be jumping around between households on holidays -- on even years, he'll be with his mom for Thanksgiving and with his dad for odd. Come Christmas, Kaiser is set to celebrate with Jenelle on Christmas morning, and then with his dad later that day ... and until the 27th.

Nathan was granted a significant amount of time to be with Kaiser for the summer -- 6 weeks straight once school's out. For Mother's and Father's Day -- well, that one's easy.

Both parents will share legal custody of the kid, and have to figure out exchange points among themselves. Kaiser also can't be more than 2 hours away from Jenelle when he's visiting dad. And, per the judge, neither parent can trash talk each other in front of him.

You'll recall ... Nathan vowed to get custody of Kaiser last year, claiming Jenelle was an unfit mom and was turning his son against him. Looks like they were able to work out their differences after all that time ... good deal.

Rich the Kid promised to promote Fashion Nova and mention the company in one of his tracks, but the clothing line says he took their money and ran ... according to a lawsuit.

Fashion Nova claims it struck a deal with Rich back in October 2018 for the rapper to exclusively promote the brand on social media, post pictures with its hashtags, and give the brand a shout-out in a song.

But, according to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Rich went ghost after getting a $100k advance. Fashion Nova says RTK was supposed to perform the contracted duties between October 2018 and December 2018, but to this day he's yet to come through ... much less reimburse the company for that fat advance.

As a result ... Fashion Nova claims it's suffered $2.1 million in damages and is suing the rapper for breaching his contract and making false promises.

Young Thug allegedly caused his long-time chauffeur to get the crap beaten out of him at a house party, and now the driver's threatening to sue the boss.

Derrick Thrasher says he worked as a personal driver for Young Thug over the past 7-8 years. He claims YT invited him to a party in L.A. back in May, where he got into an argument with another rapper named Lil Duke.

Now, according to Thrasher's lawyers ... the driver took the high road, and left the party to avoid a brawl. However, Thrasher says duty called -- Young Thug needed a ride home, so the driver had to go back to the party ... and that's when he claims he was viciously assaulted and beaten.

In the letter, sent to Young Thug, Thrasher's attorneys -- Paul M. Aloise Jr. and Ryan P. Molaghan -- say their client was held down, punched, kicked and had a liquor bottle smashed over his head. He claims he ended up needing surgery.

The driver is now threatening a lawsuit against Young Thug and Lil Duke's record label, 300 Entertainment, if they can't agree on a settlement.

John Fogerty is outraged President Trump is playing one of his very personal songs at campaign rallies, because the song actually takes aim at people like him.

Fogerty says he's issuing a cease and desist order ... demanding that Trump and co. refrain from playing Creedence Clearwater Revival's massive hit, "Fortunate Son."

Fogerty, who sang the song in both the group and as a solo artist, made it clear it's personal ... "I wrote this song because, as a veteran, I was disgusted that some people were allowed to be excluded from serving our country because they had access to political and financial privilege. I also wrote about wealthy people not playing their fair share of taxes."

John made it clear, he doesn't endorse DT. There have been other attempts to get Trump to stop playing other songs at his rallies, but the law allows it. Still, the artists can voice their displeasure.

As you may know, Trump never served in the military because he got a deferment -- first a student deferment, and then a 1-Y deferment after he was diagnosed with bone spurs. And, he grew up in a house of privilege, something Fogerty sings about. In other words, Donald Trump was a fortunate son.

Bobby Shmurda has big plans for when he gets out of prison, but he's gotta put 'em on the back burner because the parole board still isn't feeling his whole "I've changed" vibe.

The rapper told the board he wants to resume his career in entertainment, but also wants to do outreach programs with troubled youth who need guidance. According to a transcript of his September parole hearing ... he also told the parole board he thinks of himself now as a "leader" and not a follower.

Shmurda claims he got into a lot of trouble when he was younger because he felt he would look like a punk if he walked away from fights. He added that's all changed now, and said he feels too "grown" to be fighting and arguing.

As we first reported, Bobby was denied parole during the hearing, but the transcript reveals exactly how he made his case to be released. According to the docs, he said he's no longer impulsive, and takes time to think about others and walk away from bad situations when they pop up.

There's a good reason that didn't fly with the board. In denying Shmurda, board members pointed out he's had "multiple" violations while in prison, including allegedly having a shank, fighting and drug possession.

"The Hangover" star Rob Riggle got some sobering news to kick off his October ... his wife of 21 years filed for divorce.

Tiffany Riggle filed legal docs in Ventura County court to end her marriage to the comedian. She cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split ... this according to legal docs obtained by TMZ. They got married back on April 13, 1999, and she lists May 2, 2020 as the date of separation.

They had 2 kids together -- 16-year-old daughter Abigail and 12-year-old son George ... and she's asking for joint custody with Rob -- a big football fan who now appears on FOX's NFL Sunday pregame show and once hosted the NFL Honors show in 2018. She also checked the box asking for spousal support.

Some of the men who planned to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were apparently gearing up for war from inside the ultimate mom car of the 2000s -- this per federal investigators.

Michigan's FOX 17 put out a report with a treasure trove of material it obtained from the U.S. Attorney's Office, which recently presented evidence against at least 5 dudes thus far, who were allegedly in on the plot. Among the items the FBI collected ... a video of some of these men popping in and out of a Chrysler PT Cruiser with semi-automatic rifles in hand, circus-style.

You have to see it to believe it ... four guys are in the Cruiser with guns drawn, and then they hop out and begin firing at targets in the distance. Somebody in the back filming encourages them to keep going -- according to FOX 17, the feds say this was a tactical exercise.

But, wait ... there's more. Other footage released by investigators reveals two different men practicing their load and re-load times on their weapons ... apparently as a way to show how "ready" they were for the alleged mission. It's pretty intense, but goofy all the same.

One last clip shows one of the men -- who FOX 17 says was one of those indicted -- talking directly into the camera and describing why he and his comrades are doing this ... because they were sick of being "enslaved" by the state of Michigan. It's surreal to hear him say it.

FOX 17 also posted alleged screenshots of convos between the men that investigators say detail their plans in great depth, which encompassed stakeouts, reconnaissance, entry and escape routes and general chatter about their hatred of the Gov. and her COVID policies.

As we reported ... Gov. Whitmer made the bombshell announcement last week about the FBI thwarting the alleged attempted kidnapping. At least 14 men have been arrested in connection to the alleged crime -- investigators claim they're made up of at least two militia groups.

Whitmer blamed President Trump for stoking the flames on this ... going back to his "Liberate Michigan" tweets early on in the pandemic.

Tim Allen's eldest boy on "Home Improvement" is all grown up ... and sitting in a jail cell for allegedly choking out his girlfriend.

Zachery Ty Bryan was arrested late Friday night in Eugene, OR after neighbors called for help following some sort of scuffle at an apartment complex in town. Eugene PD tells TMZ ... when cops showed up, they found Zach sitting outside his unit with the alleged victim hiding at a friend's place across the way.

We're told after an investigation, cops found 39-year-old Zachery had gotten into some sort of argument with the woman -- with whom he has a relationship -- and it allegedly became physical ... with the victim claiming ZTB put his hands around her throat and squeezed.

We're told cops were also told Zachery tried taking the woman's phone away when she tried calling 911 ... before she was ultimately able to escape and get to a safe place. Zachery was arrested without incident and booked on three charges -- strangulation, fourth-degree assault and interfering with making a report. He posed for this mug shot at Lane County Jail.

Michelle Theriot -- who made her name as Gramma Mimi on the hit TLC show, "OutDaughtered" -- has been arrested for DUI ... TMZ has learned.

Mimi was busted last weekend in League City, Texas a little after midnight on her way home. Cops say Mimi's black Ford SUV was swerving while straddling the shoulder's solid white line.

Cops say when they tried pulling her over, Mimi was slow to stop and when they approached her, cops say there was a strong odor of perfume wafting from the SUV. Cops say they know the game ... people try to conceal certain odors with perfume or cologne.

Mimi was asked to produce her driver's license, and cops say she was lethargic. They also say Mimi's speech was slurred and she had bloodshot eyes. When cops asked if she had any booze, she told them she had 2 glasses of wine ... before changing her story later and saying she had no wine but 2 Michelob Ultra beers.

Cops say it got worse when Mimi stepped unsteadily out of the car ... swaying back and forth. According to cops, she also bombed several field sobriety tests and had to be stopped from trying to get back in her SUV. She was handcuffed and taken to jail.

Jerry Harris will remain in custody until he stands trial in his child pornography case.

A federal judge just denied bond for the star of Netflix's popular docuseries, "Cheer." As we reported, Harris had a bond hearing Wednesday in Texas, where the judge heard arguments for and against cutting him loose before his trial. The judge finally ruled Friday, agreeing with the prosecution's wishes to keep him behind bars.

Prosecutors said they believe Harris could prey on minors if released on bond. They claimed he has multiple underage victims already, and would likely revert back to the same alleged behavior. Remember ... the feds claim he continued targeting minors despite being tipped off about the federal investigation.

The judge cited that allegation in Friday's ruling ... saying Harris was consistent in his pursuit of the alleged victims and demonstrated uncontrollable behavior.

Harris' defense team told the court he wouldn't pose a threat or hurt people if he was released pending trial, because he wouldn't have access to the Internet, and would have regular check-ins with a psychiatrist. The judge was unswayed and said community support and a lack of criminal history were not enough to prove Harris doesn't pose a threat to the community.

Instead, the judge said a lack of criminal history actually shows how easy it is for this kind of alleged behavior to go undetected.

Ex-Angels staffer Eric Kay has been indicted by a grand jury in Texas on two counts in the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, court docs show.

Kay -- who worked with the Angels in media relations for 24 years -- had previously been charged by prosecutors with distribution of the fentanyl that led to Skaggs' overdose death back in June 2019.

But, the case has since gone to a grand jury -- which has now handed down a 2-count indictment against Kay.

According to the documents, Kay was indicted on 1 count of conspiracy to possess fentanyl with the intent to distribute and 1 count of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death.

Unclear why the case went to a grand jury after prosecutors had already announced a formal charge against Kay. We're working on it.

As we previously reported, prosecutors claim to have a text conversation between Kay and Skaggs from the night of the pitcher's overdose.

In the exchange, Kay asks "Hoe [sic] many?" ... to which Skaggs responded, "Just a few like 5."

Law enforcement officials have said they believe Kay and Skaggs were discussing drugs ... clearly implying the exchange proves Kay is the one who supplied the pitcher with the lethal dose of the pills.

Law enforcement also claimed Kay provided "30-milligram oxycodone pills" to Skaggs on multiple occasions.

Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room in Southlake, TX in July 2019 ... hours before the Angels were set to play the Texas Rangers.

He was only 27.

Drake's legal team is calling BS on injuries a man claims he suffered in a beatdown, because as they put it ... the guy wasn't too depressed or injured to appear on a reality TV show.

As you might recall, Bennett Sipes claimed he suffered a concussion, back injury, physical injury and depression after a March 2018 fight at Delilah nightclub with Drake, Odell Beckham and others. Sipes filed a lawsuit over the fight, but Drake's attorneys filed docs pointing out Sipes not only appeared on "Love Island" recently ... they also claim he attended music festivals and did backflips off rope swings while on vacay in Mexico.

As they say in the docs, obtained by TMZ, Sipes "appeared anything but depressed."

The legal docs include a declaration from Sipes' ex-GF, Sommer Ray Beaty, saying he started working with her after the brawl. She claims he carried her camera equipment without difficulty. She also claims Sipes seemed fine after his visible injuries healed -- and they traveled together to Mexico, Maryland, Colorado, England, France, Italy and Japan. She claims they also attended Coachella, Stagecoach and Rolling Loud Festival.

Drake's team also says Sipes deleted a bunch of text messages with Beaty ... which they say is a big no-no while the lawsuit was pending. They suspect the messages could have shed some light on Sipes' alleged injuries or the incident itself.

TMZ broke the story ... Sipes sued Drake, OBJ and Kourtney Kardashian's ex, Younes Bendjima, back in January 2019 claiming Younes attacked him along with members of Drake and OBJ's entourage. Sipes' ex said in her declaration both Drake and OBJ were standing at the back of the group and "appeared to simply be observing what was happening and following the group out of curiosity. Neither of them seemed to be instructing others or encouraging others to do anything at all."

Sipes had alleged Drake made a "throat slash" gesture and that's what triggered his crew to beat Sipes to a pulp. But, Sipes' ex contradicts that ... claiming she did not see any "throat slash" gesture "nor did I observe Drake encourage anything at all."