Current:Home > MarketsTennessee judge pushes off issuing ruling in Ja Morant lawsuit -Trailblazer Wealth Guides
Tennessee judge pushes off issuing ruling in Ja Morant lawsuit
View
Date:2025-04-20 01:55:37
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee judge on Wednesday said she won’t immediately hand down a ruling on whether Ja Morant’s legal team successfully argued that the NBA star is immune from being sued by a teenager he punched during a pickup game in 2022.
According to The Commercial Appeal, Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Carol Chumney said she needs more time due to the lack of case precedent surrounding the lawsuit.
“Everybody was hoping for a big decision, or finality, or something like that,” Chumney said. “These are important legal issues.”
Wednesday’s court session was a continuation of a hearing that began Dec. 11. The hearing centered on Morant’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit under Tennessee’s so-called ground law. The NBA player’s lawyers argue Morant is immune from liability under the law, which allows people who feel threatened at their homes to act with force in certain situations. The law is used in criminal cases, but Chumney’s ruling last month cleared the way for Morant’s lawyers to apply it in the civil case.
The lawsuit filed by Joshua Holloway accuses Morant of assaulting him when the Memphis Grizzlies All-Star guard punched him during a pickup game at the home of Morant’s parents on July 26, 2022. Then 17, Holloway had been invited to play at the private court of the Morant family. Holloway is now 18 and he plays for Samford University.
Morant says he was defending himself after Holloway aggressively threw the basketball at him with a one-handed, baseball-style pass and hit him in the face during a check-ball situation. A “check” is a common practice in pickup games in which two opposing players pass the ball to each other and check to see if their teammates are ready, often before starting a game or after a foul.
Additionally, the NBA suspended Morant for the first 25 games this season after a video of him flashing a handgun was posted online. The video shows Morant sitting in the passenger seat of a car and was posted after he finished serving an eight-game suspension in March for another video in which he displayed a handgun in a Denver-area strip club.
Morant apologized for both videos. He returned to the court on Tuesday with a stirring 34-point season debut.
Ja Morant’s father, Tee Morant, has testified that the family has for years invited young local basketball players and friends of Ja Morant to play on their full-sized home court. Morant’s parents cook a meal for the players after the pickup games.
Holloway had been invited to play several times and had built a friendly relationship with the Morants. Ja Morant testified that the teen behaved well and showed respect to him and his family during his previous visits.
veryGood! (8741)
Related
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- Yankees' Domingo Germán entering treatment for alcohol abuse, placed on restricted list
- 'Love is Blind' star Nick Thompson says he could become 'homeless,' blames Netflix
- Los Angeles officials fear wave of evictions after deadline to pay pandemic back rent passes
- Kylie Jenner Shows Off Sweet Notes From Nieces Dream Kardashian & Chicago West
- Blackpink’s Jisoo and Actor Ahn Bo-hyun Are Dating
- 'ESPN8: The Ocho' bringing back 'seldom seen sports': How to watch cornhole, corgi races
- From bullies to bystanders: AL East flips trade deadline script as Yankees, Red Sox sit out
- NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
- Husband arrested after wife's body parts found in 3 suitcases
Ranking
- Trump's 'stop
- Lizzo’s Former Creative Director and Documentary Filmmaker Speak Out Against Singer
- Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth Settle Their Divorce 4 Months After Announcing Breakup
- Attention shifts to opt-out clause after Tigers' Eduardo Rodriguez blocks Dodgers trade
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- Christina Aguilera Makes a Convincing Case to Wear a Purse as a Skirt
- More than 100 firefighters battling 3-alarm fire in west Phoenix industrial area
- Indianapolis officer fatally shoots fleeing motorist during brief foot chase
Recommendation
Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
What to know about Tanya Chutkan, the judge randomly assigned to Trump's Jan. 6 case
Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth Settle Their Divorce 4 Months After Announcing Breakup
Museum in New York state returns remains of 19 Native Americans to Oneida Indian Nation
New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp dangles the possibility of increased state spending after years of surpluses
California voters may face dueling measures on 2024 ballot about oil wells near homes and schools
1-year-old girl dies after grandma left her in car for 8 hours in while she went to work: New York police