Actor Keanu Reeves had a most excellent day in court. A jury only took three hours to reject the torts claims of Alison Silva, a paparazzo who claimed that Reeves injured his left wrist by hitting him with his Porsche. He sought $711,974, which includes medical bills, lost wages and punitive damages.
Silva did not help his case with often conflicting accounts and a video of showing him using his supposedly damaged hand to scale down a chain link fence after getting video of Britney Spears.
What was most interesting about this torts case was the Hollywood jury of their peers. The panel of jurors – six men and six women – included an animator for “The Simpsons” and a coordinator for movie shoots in public parks. The original jury pool also included a voice over artist and a pair of actresses. Paparazzi are generally viewed as the lowest form of life in Hollywood, so this was a tough case from the start. Showing a film climbing a fence to capture a shot of Spears only served to poison the pool further for the photographer.
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Keanu needs to pay up. I hope the guy appeals and gets a smarter lawyer; maybe on that is not on the dole from Hollywood.