Warren Sapp was accused of seriously injuring actress Paula Trickey at a party during Super Bowl week more than five years ago, which led to a lawsuit against the Hall of Famer. Sapp claims he was never even at the party, and it appears the court has sided with him.
A judge ruled on Aug. 3 that Trickey’s lawyer John Phillips “failed to provide any evidence whatsoever to support” the claim and should have withdrawn the case, according to Page Six. The judge then ordered Trickey to pay a “reasonable attorney’s fee” to Sapp for the case. The fees could be as much as $100,000.
Phillips has filed an appeal and says he is confident the ruling will be overturned. That hasn’t stopped Sapp and his attorneys at Farrell Patel Jomarron & Lopez from celebrating the victory.
“This was a bulls— case!” Sapp told Page Six. “They tried to extort me to payout on some s–t I didn’t do! … I tried every way possible to show they had the wrong person! Literally no one believed me. I was not in two places at the same time!”
Fellow Hall of Famer Andre Reed initially signed an affidavit saying he witnessed Sapp slam into Trickey and knock her to the ground at the ESPN-hosted party on Jan. 31, 2015. Reed later recanted. Sapp has insisted all along that he was not at the party and was instead making a paid appearance at an NFL Alumni party across town.
Trickey, who was arrested for DUI the night of the party, said in 2017 that she was still in pain two years later after an intoxicated Sapp slammed into her. Her case apparently was not strong enough to disprove Sapp’s claim that he was never there.
