Famous singer Brandy found herself on the wrong side of headlines when she was involved in a celebrity car accident on Dec. 30, 2006. While driving her Land Rover, the “Boy Is Mine” singer rear-ended a 38-year-old Moroccan immigrant and mother of two named Awatef Aboudihaj, on a Los Angeles freeway which caused a four-car-car accident chain reaction and led to Aboudihaj’s death. Aboudihaj was killed when her vehicle slammed into a third car, then careened into the freeway’s center divider and then struck broadside by a fourth automobile. Eventually Aboudihaj’s family contacted a car accident attorney and filed wrongful death lawsuits against the R&B singer.
The suit, filed by car accident lawyers on behalf of Ahmed Aboudihaj and Zohra Labridi, alleged that “Brandy was driving recklessly” when she struck their daughter. Her widow, Hdidou Marouane, explained that at the time of the accident, that Aboudihaj was on her way to work one of two waitress jobs that she worked.
After the car crash, investigators recommended that Brandy be charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence.
In December 2007, prosecutors declined to press charges, citing insufficient evidence.
Los Angeles City Attorney’s spokesman Frank Mateljan said, “After conducting a thorough investigation, which included consulting with some of the top accident reconstruction experts in the country, city prosecutors concluded that there was insufficient evidence from which a jury could find Ms. Norwood guilty of such a charge beyond a reasonable doubt.”
At the time, a car accident attorney for Brandy said the singer was “very pleased” to not be charged.
Meanwhile, lawsuits piled up for the singer and her car accident legal team. A car accident attorney for Aboudihaj’s parents filed a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit against the singer on their behalf. Another motorist named Donald Lite, who allegedly suffered “serious and permanent injuries”, also contacted a car crash lawyer and brought a suit. Mallory Ham, who was driving one of the other vehicles involved in the fatal accident and ended up sustaining lacerations to her face and a severely broken nose, contacted a car accident attorney and filed a lawsuit against Melville. Ham won an undisclosed sum from Brandy’s insurance company.
Brandy countersued Ham, accusing her of negligence and blaming her for causing the chain-reaction pile-up because she broadsided Aboudihaj’s car while trying to evade the other vehicle that entered her lane.
On Nov. 13, 2009, Brandy reached a settlement with Marouane Hdidou and his car accident lawyer. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Like Awatef Aboudihaj’s family did in California, if you or someone you know has had a car accident, contact an experienced auto accident lawyer Washington DC by calling Cohen & Cohen at (202) 955-4529.
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