Belcalis Almanzar, more famously known as Cardi B, has been the suspect of a lot of attention on social media due to her trial and subsequent victory against former security guard Emani Ellis in which Ellis alleged that Almanzar had assaulted her back in 2018.
The trial itself was live streamed to the public, which is becoming a common occurrence with celebrity court cases such as the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard trial back in 2022. The ability to stream was granted by Los Angeles County Superior Judge Ian C. Fusselman.
The incident according to Ellis had occurred at a gynecologist appointment for Almanzar while she was four months pregnant where an argument between the two started when Almanzar had seen she was being recorded by Ellis and had since not yet revealed her pregnancy to the public.
Both sides testified that there was a verbal argument with profanities being exchanged by both Almanzar and Ellis, but Ellis and her lawyer Ron Rosen Jantaza further claimed that Almanzar had scratched her face and spat on her during the exchange. Almanzar and her lawyer Peter J. Anderson denied her claim, with Almanzar implying that Ellis was in it for the high payout as she revealed Ellis was suing $24 million dollars.
Both women had witnesses brought in to confirm their side of the story with Ellis bringing in her mother Leanne Schmidt, her grandmother Dianne Schmidt, her psychologist at the time Nichole McKenzie, and her plastic surgeon Brent Moelleken. The mother, grandmother, and psychologist served as third hand witnesses who Ellis had told her story to while the plastic surgeon had given her surgery for a scar on her left cheek that she claimed Almanzar gave her.
Almanzar brought in her gynecologist David Finke, the receptionist at the office Tierra Malcolm, and Ellis’s psychiatrist James Rosenberg. Malcolm served as a first hand witness who claimed she did not see Almanzar hit Ellis in any capacity. In fact, Malcolm said she was actually scratched on her forehead by Ellis when she went to de-escalate the situation.
In the end, after 4 trial days held from August 25 to September 2nd, Almanzar was cleared of her charges by a jury who voted unanimously in favor of her.
Almanzar doubled down on her innocence by stating, “I will say it on my deathbed. I did not touch that woman. I did not touch that girl. I didn’t lay my hands on that girl. “
