Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Carol Chumney ruled in favor of part of Ja Morant’s motion to dismiss the civil case that alleges Morant and his close friend Davonte Pack punched a teenage basketball player during a pick-up game at Morant’s home.
In her ruling, Chumney allowed the civil case to remain paused while attorneys prepare to argue the constitutionality of Tennessee’s self-defense immunity statute.
“We’re pleased with today’s result,” said Will Perry, one of Morant’s attorneys in the case, after the ruling.
Chumney ruled on three issues that attorneys argued Monday afternoon. The first of those issues focused on if Morant has waived his right to immunity due to not specifically claiming it in his response to the lawsuit.
Attorneys for the teen, Joshua Holloway, argued that not citing the immunity statute explicitly prejudiced Holloway’s case because it did not allow attorneys to focus on rebuking Morant’s claim.
“Under the circumstances, the court is going to find that the affirmative defense…is not waived by the defendant, even though it certainly could have been more specific in the reply,” Chumney said when ruling from the bench. “Because the trial was not set until next year, the court finds that this was not going to prejudice the plaintiffs.”
Chumney also agreed that the self-defense immunity statute applied to the case, which was the second issue argued by attorneys. She did, however, say that the motion to dismiss was not actually that motion since acquiring immunity under the self-defense statute would require Morant to “admit the truth of all material allegations in the amended complaint.”
The third argument made by Holloway’s lawyer, Rebecca Adelman, that the motion was an abuse of process, was not favored by Chumney either, and she ruled in favor of Morant.
Although ruling in favor of Morant, the case will not be dismissed. Chumney’s ruling now triggers a constitutional challenge to the state’s self-defense immunity law, with Adelman claiming it circumvents a plaintiff’s right to a trial by jury.
“Of course, we’re disappointed that we were not successful on the waiver argument and that the defendant has waived the right to even plead the immunity statute,” Adelman told reporters after the ruling. “However, we are pleased that the court wants to consider the constitutionality of this statute and reserved the ruling to stay the case…pending a constitutional challenge to the statute.”
Chumney indicated after ruling that she was interested in hearing whether the state legislature can change the status to a plaintiff’s right to a jury trial.
“That is a very — in the court’s opinion — a very significant constitutional issue that was not read by the parties,” Chumney said.
The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, which was granted its motion to intervene in the case by the court, will defend the statute in court on October 12, when attorneys make their arguments.
Additional information on Davonte Pack’s arrest warrant
An arrest warrant for Pack was issued Monday, charging him with misdemeanor assault for the July 2022 altercation between him, Morant and Holloway.
Depositions, including one from Pack, detailed the altercation between the three that happened at Morant’s house in Eads last year.
During a check ball situation, Holloway threw a ball at Morant and hit the Grizzlies star in the face. Attorneys on both sides of the case have argued whether or not the throw was intentional.
Morant and Holloway approached one another on the court, according to witnesses, and after Holloway “squared up” with Morant, Morant punched the teen. Shortly after, Pack walked up and punched Holloway, knocking him to the ground.
In court Wednesday, Perry said the warrant was based, in part, on Pack’s own deposition.
“There’s no question that what is happening in this case are the same facts upon which this warrant was issued,” Perry told the court.
Adelman, after the hearing, said she was appreciative of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and Shelby County District Attorney’s Office continuing to investigate the criminal side of the case.
“With additional information that came to light in our case, I appreciate that the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office did whatever they needed to with the additional information that was evidence,” Adelman said. “That the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office was able to take the truth as it was presented in our case — we appreciated that… We appreciated the efforts of the district attorney and his office, too.”