Katt Williams was ordered by a Hall County, Ga judge Wednesday (March 8) to pay $86,715 in damages to a man the comedian allegedly assaulted in February 2016 after Williams failed to show up for court, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
The trial stems from a February 2016 incident when Katt reportedly threw goggles at Paul Love, an employee at a pool supply store. The comedian then allegedly went behind the counter and punched Love in the face. Love had reportedly undergone brain surgery just before the incident.
Williams showed “willful misconduct, malice … and an entire want of care,” Judge B.E. Roberts III wrote in awarding the damages, which include $54,000 in punitive damages, $6,500 in medical expenses, $13,000 for “pain and suffering” and $13,000 for “intentional infliction of emotional distress, fright and anxiety,” according to the order. Williams also must pay $215 in court costs.
This isn’t the first time Mr. Williams has found himself on the wrong side of the law in Georgia. Back in December, he was sentenced to five years on “strict probation” after entering a plea of no contest in Hall County, GA to assault and battery charges, TMZ reports.
His legal woes legal woes for this particular incident began earlier this year, when the Hall County Sheriff’s Office served a warrant at Williams’ residence as part of an investigation into accusations that his team had choked bodyguard Corey Dixon on Feb. 28. The day before, Williams was arrested on a separate misdemeanor battery charge in Hall County, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
One acquaintance, Tatiana Smith, 24, allegedly choked Dixon and assaulted him with a baseball bat.
The alleged assault occurred after the bodyguard refused to “engage in criminal activity,” sources say. When police arrived at the home, they reportedly found his stash of guns and ganja. He was charged with aggravated assault, terroristic threats, false imprisonment and felony possession of marijuana. He was indicted in March on those charges and others.
Conditions of his probation include paying $7,500 in restitution to the victim and performing 100 hours of community service, submitting to treatment and evaluations for anger management, substance abuse and impulse control. He can’t come anywhere around the bodyguard and is banned from Hall and Dawson counties.
On top of that, he must surrender all the guns cops found, plus the almost $16,000 they seized.
