GA Appeals Court Rules Rapper T.I. Not Liable for Attack at Studio

“Gresham blacked out shortly after the attack began, eventually coming to in a nearby parking lot. He then called the police,” Dillard continued. “Gresham suffered significant physical injuries during the attack, and later filed suit against numerous parties.”

Most of these parties sued were companies owned by Harris.

Court of Appeals Judges Sara Doyle and Amanda Mercier concurred with the chief in upholding Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall's dismissal of the case against the Harris companies. A default judgment has been entered against the attacker, who had no assets, according to an attorney for Harris.

After the appeals court ruling, Gresham's attorney Ted Lackland of Lackland & Associates in Marietta, GA, said, “We are consulting with our client to determine whether we will file for certiorari to the Supreme Court.”

Harris attorney Albert A. Chapar Jr. of the Chapar Firm in Conters. GA, said Gresham “made many fantastic allegations, including some that Tip actually ordered the assault.”

“These may have raised the temperature of the case, but those kinds of allegations proved to be utterly insupportable,” Chapar claimed. “Tip was not present and knew nothing about the assault as it was happening.”

Chapar said the case then narrowed to Gresham seeking recovery “primarily on a premises liability theory.”

“At first glance, the occurrence of an injury upon the property of another may tempt a party to invoke premises liability law,” Chapar noted. “However, Judge Schwall below recognized that the facts of this case could not support recovery on a premises liability theory because the injuries as alleged … were the consequence of a personal dispute” between the victim and the attacker.

“As Chief Judge Dillard nicely explains, when a person is injured by another due to the existence of a personal dispute, that dispute is the cause of the injury,” Chapar continued. “That the attacker might have chosen real property upon which a studio partially owned by Tip to carry out the attack was a choice by none but the assailant. The injuries were not the responsibility of Tip or any of my other clients.”

Before explaining the facts of the case, Judge Dillard observed: “As a preliminary matter, it is helpful to identify some of the individuals and corporate entities that are either parties to this appeal or otherwise involved in the events leading up to the assault.”. He went on to introduce “corporate-entity defendants.” Harris and Jason Geter co-own both Grand Hustle, a record label, and King of da South Inc., a company that “facilitates certain areas” of their business.

The chief judge went on to note in detail that Harris and Geter also co-own Echo Studios, a recording studio “where the relevant events occurred.” Judge Dillard added that the man who attacked Gresham had an “exclusive recording artist agreement” with Grand Hustle.

The attack happened in September 2010. Gresham had gone to Echo Studios for the premier of a movie called Takers, “a Labor Day cookout and a showcase of Grand Hustle recording artists,” Judge Dillard wrote. “Later that evening, Gresham, along with others, went to a nightclub.” Gresham was working as an assistant to another Grand Hustle recording artist, Nathaniel Josey, also known as “Mac Boney.”

Judge Dillard said Gresham's job was to make sure that Josey did not “get in any confrontations with … patrons in the nightclub.” Gresham was also tasked with distributing CDs, keeping the group safe and making sure they did not “get in any trouble.

“Eventually, everyone returned to the studio for an after party, where Gresham continued working as Josey's assistant. While at the nightclub, Josey wore a gold-encrusted chain that belonged to Michael Render a/k/a 'Killer Mike,' another recording artist.

“But upon his return to the studio, after 'working on the next mix [they] were about to release,' Josey noticed the Render's chain was missing and there was then 'chaos in the building',” Judge Dillard said.

“According to Gresham, Render stopped by the studio and 'threatened to kill everybody in the building if his chain was not returned to him.' And after Render left the studio, the building was 'on lockdown' and the only way to leave was to exit through Harris's office.”

The bottom line was that the necklace was found in the ceiling of a bedroom where Gresham had seen another recording artist storing a gun. Gresham put two and two together, figuring the same artist took the gold chain. Accusations ensued from the others. The attack followed in retaliation.

Ultimately, the appeals court concluded that the Harris companies couldn't be held liable.

*****

Katheryn Hayes Tucker is a Staff Reporter for the Atlanta-based Daily Report, an ALM sibling of Entertainment Law & Finance. She can be reached at [email protected].