HOUSTON – R&B singer Patti LaBelle took the stand Wednesday in a civil suit filed against her by a former West Point cadet.
LaBelle and her entourage are being sued in federal court for an incident that happened at Bush IAH in 2011. Richard King claims he was the victim of an unprovoked attack by LaBelle's bodyguards when he was returning home from spring break. LaBelle's camp says King was the aggressor.
The legendary singer's son, bodyguard and hairdresser testified first on Wednesday, then she took the stand. LaBelle said she heard King shout a racial statement at her, and that he made the first physical move.
In court, LaBelle says she smiles at people who say offensive things to her.
"I've been doing this 52 years and I've heard all kinds of things," LaBelle said.
When the prosecutor asked LaBelle if she posed for pictures with responding police officer at the scene, to get on their good side, LaBelle said no. She said people are always asking to take pictures with her and she would have taken a picture even if a homeless person asked her.
While being questioned by the prosecutor, it was noted that in her deposition, LaBelle stated she did not feel bad about King's medical complications. During testimony she stated since that deposition she has had time to think about it and told jurors she now does feel bad if King has any sort of traumatic brain injury.
There were a few chuckles in the courtroom when attorneys questioned the singer's bodyguard, Efram Holmes, about the height and weight difference between him and King. When asked if he was 400 pounds, Holmes said he was actually 399.9 pounds.
Holmes said King's face was flushed and his speech was slurred when he tried to get into LaBelle's limo. He said prior to March 2011, he had never used force on anyone while serving as LaBelle's security guard.
The prosecutor pointed out that Holmes didn't tell anyone about King's alleged racial statement toward LaBelle until after the airport video surveillance of the incident surfaced. The prosecutor also pointed out that LaBelle's son never told police about any sort of racial statement, when a report was written up at the scene.
During his time on the stand, King said he doesn't remember the airport incident. He said he woke up the next day with staples in his head and had to ask his mother what happened. King said he graduated in the top 10 percent of his high school class, and played soccer and football. He dreamed of attending West Point.
They admit he was drunk, after a having a few too many drinks on his first class flight. But after showing the surveillance video of the incident to the jurors, they say it's clear King did not do anything to provoke an attack. They say King suffered a concussion, which ultimately caused his grades to suffer and led to his eventual dismissal from West Point.
LaBelle's lawyers paint a very different picture of King. They say he was a sub-standard cadet, who had several academic problems at West Point. They also say testimony from eyewitnesses at the airport will be much stronger than anything seen in the surveillance video.
LaBelle's lawyers set a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey right in front of the jurors to show how much he had to drink prior to the incident. His BAC was at .285, three times the legal limit. LaBelle's lawyers say the altercation never would have happened if King wasn't under the influence of alcohol.
The trial is set to resume at 8 a.m. Thursday. It is expected to wrap up on Friday or early next week.