Ryan Phillippe won a round in court Tuesday when a judge ruled that attorneys for an ex-girlfriend of the actor who alleges he assaulted her in 2017 will not be able to ask additional questions of his personal assistant in a deposition.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Laura Seigle said Elsie Hewitt’s lawyers waited too long to file their motion to further depose Brady Ricci and also did not bring it under the proper section of the Code of Civil Procedure in order to do so.
“Therefore, the motion is denied,” Seigle wrote.
In their court papers, Hewitt’s lawyers maintained that Ricci’s attorney, who also represents Phillippe, coached Ricci not to answer certain questions about the actor’s ex-fiancee, Paulina Slagter, when they deposed him in May. They then filed their motion to compel further responses.
Hewitt’s legal team maintains Slagter’s relationship with Phillippe is relevant given that Phillippe publicly said he is “not somebody that abuses women” and testified during his deposition that he never was investigated for abuse or had a police report filed against him.
Hewitt, 23, filed her suit in September 2017, alleging Phillippe assaulted her on July 4 of that year. She accuses the “Shooter” star of assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Hewitt alleges that the actor kicked and punched her at his home. She claims in her court papers that during the fight, she gathered her things to leave and Phillippe reacted by grabbing her upper arm so tightly that his grip left heavy bruises on her arm. He then allegedly threw her down his staircase.
In a countersuit against Hewitt filed in November 2017, Phillippe denies her claims and alleges that she broke into his home in the middle of the night without permission and “fabricated a story in an unjustified attempt to extort money.”