EXCLUSIVE: Mark Geragos Files Court Papers – Cops Sold Rihanna Photo
May 7 2009, Published 4:04 a.m. ET
Dramatic new developments in the Chris Brown alleged battery case as Brown's high powered attorney, Mark Geragos formally filed a motion late Wednesday in the Los Angeles Superior Court seeking access to internal LAPD records. Geragos says he believes that the photo of a badly beaten Rihanna was illegally leaked to the media by an LAPD Officer -- is harmful to his client -- and could lead to the case being dismissed. Read court documents.
Geragos states in the new motion reviewed exclusively by RadarOnline.com that Rihanna, whose real name is Robyn Fenty, was very concerned about information being leaked to the media.
Prior to the photo being leaked to TMZ the motion states, "Ms. Fenty requested that the police reports related to this incident be kept confidential, and a Request for Confidentiality of Information was completed."
However, that wasn't enough to protect her privacy as an alleged crime victim. Geragos states, "I'm informed and believe that on or about February 19, 2009, a photograph taken by the LAPD depicting physical injuries on Ms. Fenty's person was illegally leaked to the media. Specifically, I am informed and believe that this highly prejudicial photograph was sold by an LAPD officer to the entertainment website, TMZ. The photograph was immediately viewed by hundreds of thousands of viewers and was displayed on every news channel for several weeks. In fact, the photograph still remains on the TMZ website. The purpose of the leak was necessarily for profit and to vilify Mr. Brown and poison the potential jury pool."
Geragos further states "If the instant motion reveals evidence of dishonest conduct on any of these officers’ part, I intend to use such evidence at the preliminary hearing to attack their credibility. The defense intends to prove and argue that the afore-mentioned officers are not credible and that the Court should not believe any or all of their testimony. If the Court does not believe these statements, I believe there is a reasonable likelihood that the case will be dismissed at the preliminary hearing."
DAILY. BREAKING. CELEBRITY NEWS. ALL FREE.
Geragos goes on to say, "In this case specifically, the leaking of a photograph (whether for profit or not) of a complaining witness violates a variety of criminal and regulatory prohibitions. In and of itself these actions would not only constitute demonstratable bias on the part of the involved officers but could potentially be the basis for a Motion to Dismiss Outrageous Governmental Misconduct."
Sources close to Chris Brown tell RadarOnline.com that ongoing plea talks with the district attorney are moving forward, but there isn't a resolution, yet. Chris Brown's preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 28th, 2009.
(Photo: Wenn)