Justin Bieber Wants Ferrari Paparazzo Lawsuit Tossed With Own Fault Defense

Justin Bieber reportedly wants a judge to toss out a civil lawsuit filed by a paparazzo, who is alleging he was struck by the singer’s Ferrari outside a comedy club in 2013.

The singer was sued last year by paparazzo Walter Lee, who is claiming the Biebs’ car hit him as he pulled away outside the Laugh Factory comedy club on Sunset Boulevard. The alleged incident took place on June 17, 2013.

Video footage from the night, shows paparazzi bombarded Bieber with flash photography and crowded him, which left the Canadian with little to no space to move his Ferrari.

After a subsequent police investigation into the alleged hit-and-run, Bieber was cleared of criminal liability.

Fast forward to now, Bieber and his lawyers’ defense amounts to claiming Lee deliberately stood in front of a moving vehicle, and want a judge to toss Lee’s lawsuit and award court costs to the singer.

According to TMZ, the singer’s legal team also doubts Lee was as badly hurt as he claims, as he filmed Bieber at a charity roller rink event in Glendale, California in July 2014, just a few days after filing his lawsuit.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, a paparazzo scrum surrounded Bieber’s Ferrari as he left the Laugh Factory comedy club with pal rapper Lil Twist back in June 2013, causing a chaotic scene.

After Bieber motioned with his hands a number of times from inside the car and a security guard asked photographers to get out of the road, a “clear path” was eventually made.

However, as Bieber pulled out, Lee — who was still in the road — was pinned between the singer’s Ferrari and a parked car.

In video footage, Lee dropped his camera on the hood of the Ferrari and fell to the ground clutching his leg.

Walter was subsequently taken to a local hospital and treated for minor scrapes to his leg before being released.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigated whether Bieber had knowingly left the scene of an accident.

Bieber claimed through his attorney that he was unaware of any contact with Lee when he drove off.

On July 31, 2013, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s prosecutors announced that they were not filing criminal charges against the singer for allegedly hitting a paparazzo.

The prosecutors’ filing rejection statement said Bieber’s claim that he did not know he had hit someone was “reasonable and credible” given the chaos of the situation.

Prosecutors said that Bieber pulled away from the curb through a “clear path” when Walter “suddenly stepped in front of” the vehicle.

The statement declared [in part] that Walter was “at fault in the collision due to being in the roadway and blocking Bieber’s vehicle.”

“There were over a dozen paparazzi surrounding his [Bieber’s] car and on the sidewalk, and it was noisy with camera flashes and bright lights surrounding him.”

“Given the scene and the stress of the situation, it is likely that Bieber did not know he had hit Walter,” the rejection document added.

In his lawsuit, Lee is claiming his injuries are severe and includes lacerations, hematomas, deep abrasions on his left knee, leg and deep venous thrombosis.

The paparazzo reportedly added in his lawsuit that he may never work again. A judge may decide that claim is undermined by his subsequent filming of Bieber at the roller rink.

Walter also stated in his suit that he incurred hospital and other medical bills.

If a judge doesn’t throw out Lee’s lawsuit — as Bieber’s legal team request — it remains to be seen if the paparazzo will be able to convince a potential jury that injuries he may have received after willingly standing in the path of a moving car, are anyone’s fault but his.

[Images via TeenVogue.com]