Justin Bieber’s Lawyer Asserts Singer Didn’t Hit Toronto Limo Driver

Justin Bieber’s lawyer, in a civil lawsuit brought by a Toronto limousine driver alleging he was assaulted, has confirmed that he never said the singer’s defense was based on his absence, but on non-action of the alleged assault.

Brian Greenspan says his defense has always been that Bieber didn’t commit the alleged assault on limo driver, Abdul Mohar, on December 30, 2013 — not that he wasn’t there.

The clarification follows a claim previously made by the lawyer representing the limousine driver, who is now suing Bieber. Last month, Clayton Ruby told the Canadian Press that he looked forward to “cross-examining Mr. Bieber on his non-presence, or indeed his non-existence.”

Ruby was reportedly quoted in a March 29 story claiming that Bieber’s lawyer had said his client “wasn’t present, it wasn’t him.”

Ruby retracted the part of his statement on Wednesday (April 22) after Greenspan argued that it raised “the suggestion of an inconsistency” in Bieber’s version of events, and would hamper him in the civil lawsuit.

Now, Ruby says his comment claiming that Greenspan said Bieber wasn’t present “is not accurate at all.” But, he maintains that the part in which Greenspan said “it wasn’t him” is “accurate as far as I knew then, and seems to be accurate today.”

The civil lawsuit stems from an incident that allegedly occurred when Bieber and five other males were picked up by Mohar at a Toronto nightclub in his Ford Expedition SUV.

Mohar, who was working for Uber, alleges that there was “a distinct odour of alcohol and marijuana present” at the time of the alleged incident. He claims that a dispute kicked off about the volume of a CD he was playing, and that “suddenly and without warning,” Bieber moved to the front of the SUV, turned the volume all the way up and “viciously assaulted” him.

Mohar claims Bieber punched him in his right cheek with a closed fist, then “punched him four to five times in the back of the head.”

None of the allegations were ever proved in court, and the criminal case was dropped on September 8, 2014, following months of procedural hearings. The judge in a Toronto court agreed to withdraw the one count of assault against Bieber after the crown said there was no “reasonable chance of conviction.”

Greenspan has said the charge was withdrawn because Bieber did not fit the description of the alleged assailant.

Meanwhile, in March, TMZ reported Mohar had claimed his alleged attacker was black. The limo driver is seeking $850,000 in damages and a permanent injunction preventing Bieber or his representatives from coming within 100 metres of him.

[Images via Getty Images]