THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 9, 1996 TAG: 9607090233
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 61 lines
Did you hear the one about the comedian who beat up a guest at his own bachelor party? Martin Lawrence has, and he's not laughing.
In fact, his lawyer says it never happened.
The movie star has filed legal papers denying that he choked a guest and smashed a champagne bottle over the man's head at Lawrence's bachelor party in a Virginia Beach nightclub last year.
``Martin Lawrence never touched the guy,'' Lawrence's attorney, Edward J. Powers of Norfolk, said Monday. ``I'm not sure how the guy hurt himself, if he hurt himself at all.''
A Virginia Beach man, Fentreal Ferebee, sued Lawrence in April in Virginia Beach Circuit Court. He claimed that he was making a toast at Lawrence's bachelor party when the star took offense, grabbed him by the throat, then smashed a bottle of Dom Perignon over his head while Lawrence's friend held him down. Ferebee wants $2 million in damages.
The attack allegedly took place at the Professional Club, an after-hours spot on Witchduck Road, on Jan. 7, 1995.
Ferebee reported the attack to police immediately. At the time, police said they did not think Lawrence was involved. After an investigation, police concluded that Ferebee's report was unfounded, and no one was charged.
On Wednesday, Lawrence filed a reply to Ferebee's lawsuit and transferred the case to Norfolk's federal court.
In his reply, Lawrence did not offer an alternate version of events but generally denied the lawsuit's charges and said Ferebee was hurt by his own negligence.
Lawrence married hometown beauty queen Patricia Southall of Chesapeake, a former Miss Virginia-USA, at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott Hotel on Jan. 7, 1995. The wedding attracted 600 guests and about 500 gawkers.
The night before, Lawrence was honored with a bachelor party in the Virginia Beach club, where the incident allegedly took place.
On Monday, Lawrence's attorney said Ferebee was not invited to the private party but somehow got in. Ferebee probably was drunk when he grabbed the microphone and started making nasty remarks, Powers said.
``There was no toast that I'm aware of,'' Powers said. ``Basically this guy made some comments that definitely were not a toast. Basically they were a bunch of expletives and not very complimentary.''
The lawsuit described it as a ``most gracious and sincere toast.''
Lawrence's attorney said his client did not hit Ferebee. He said Ferebee told police at the scene that he hit his head on a table. He was treated at Sentara Bayside Hospital and released.
Powers said he transferred the lawsuit to federal court because cases there move faster than in state court. Most lawsuits in Norfolk's federal court go to trial within six months of being filed.
``Mr. Lawrence wants to get this resolved as quickly and speedily as possible,'' Powers said. No hearing date has been set.
In addition, Powers was able to move the case because Lawrence lives in California, and federal courts handle disputes between residents of different states. ILLUSTRATION: Replying to a lawsuit, Martin Lawrence, left, says he
did not strike a man at Lawrence's bachelor's party last year in
Virginia Beach.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT by CNB