Ding ding ding ding! [Insert best boxing announcer Michael Buffer voice here.] In this corner, wearing a white dinner jacket, standing six foot two inches tall, weighing in at 200 pounds, the undisputed champion of the world, Jay Z! [Insert crowd noise here.] In this corner, standing five foot eight inches tall, and since it is impolite to ask a woman her weight, let’s just say 100 pounds, the challenger, Solange Knowles! Let’s get ready to rumble!! [Crowd erupts in wild cheering.] The Court of Public Opinion has dissected the Solange vs. Jay Z elevator battle. There are some clear winners and losers, and even yet, questions remain.
Winner: Jay Z. Even though he was on the receiving end several barrages of blows brought down by his sister-in-law, Jay Z never lays a hand on her. Was this motivated by chivalry? By a recognition that it’s just not okay for men to hit women? Or knowing, even in the heat of the moment, that even if self-defense is justified in a court of law, the pundits of the world would not be so forgiving? Whatever it was, Jay Z not striking back physically is exactly what we expect from a gentleman.
Winner: TMZ! Harvey Levin and crew have once again demonstrated that in today’s world, unless it happens when you are by yourself in a locked room in your own home, they’re going to know about it.
Loser: The Standard Hotel. The video of the attack was captured by the elevator’s security camera, and was reportedly sold to TMZ for $250,000. Problem is, the tape was not sold by the hotel, but instead, they infer, from a rogue employee. The Standard is now in damage control mode, since it is known for hosting celebrity parties, and can ill-afford the reputational harm that comes from the privacy breach. To put it plainly, if celebs can’t get as freaky as they want to be in the hotel’s elevator (use your imagination!), they may stop coming there. The Standard has reportedly hired lawyers, is conducting an internal investigation, is issuing press releases, and, at some point, we can assume there will be a very public firing of someone in their organization. In the meantime celebs, keep your sex, drugs, and rock and roll in the limo, where (hopefully) your smoked-out glass will keep Harvey Levin’s prying eyes off of you.
Loser: Solange. The internet is abuzz with speculation about what might have motivated Solange to lash out, and with not-so-flattering info that I’m sure she would have preferred to stay under the rug. There are the inappropriate comments Solange made when being interviewed for a local TV morning show, the whispers of mental health issues that caused her to cancel a European tour, not to mention the memes and YouTube videos adding a soundtrack to the silent movie that is the elevator footage. At the end of the day, none of it makes her look good.
But besides a clear loss in the blogosphere, could Solange be criminally prosecuted for this attack? Might she be brought into court to answer for her behavior?
If Solange intentionally struck Jay Z (which appears to be the case here to anyone who has viewed that tape below) she could face charges of assault and battery, which forbids this kind of unconsented touching.
As a general proposition, whether or not someone chooses to “press charges” against someone else is often irrelevant when it comes to the criminal court system. Criminal justice means that when a crime has been committed, a prosecution follows, sometimes contrary to the desires of the people involved. The integrity of the system requires it. It is not about individual desires, it is about preserving the dignity of our laws. A frequently encountered example of this in the world of domestic violence. A typical scenario involves a call to 911 during a dispute, and when the attacker is hauled off in handcuffs, the victim suffers “buyer’s remorse” and declares that they do not want to press charges. Nope. That decision is no longer theirs; they lost control the moment they picked up the phone.
Here, that means that even if Jay Z didn’t want to press charges, a prosecution could go forward in spite of that.
But how could that be? What about the evidence? Legally, even though the tape of the elevator attack belongs to the Standard Hotel, it could be subpoenaed and used in court regardless of their desire to keep it under wraps. And, as long as a foundation could be laid, that tape could be used in court, regardless of anyone’s desires.
Generally speaking, small scuffles such as this are usually best resolved at a family meeting or counseling session, and not consuming the already overburdened court system’s precious resources. And even though this tape revelation is very recent, the incident itself occurred several days ago, suggesting that the “victim” here, Jay Z, isn’t interested in pursuing it.
But this may be one of those times when the court needs to act as part administrator of justice, and part social worker. If the reports about Solange are true, if there are mental health issues that are going unaddressed, Lady Justice does wield massive authority to get people to comply with her mandates.
And that could be exactly what Solange needs to move her from the loser column to, in the immortal words of Charlie Sheen, someone who is “winning.”
That’s my .02 cents.
Darren Kavinoky is a criminal defense attorney at the Kavinoky Law Firm in California. He is the creator and host of “Deadly Sins” on Investigation Discovery, a TV legal analyst and keynote speaker. He is on Twitter and Facebook.
Photo: ©PatrickMcMullan.com via AP Images
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