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Reggae singer’s lawsuit continued until 2016

Joey Matthews | 8/13/2015, 3:30 p.m.
Legendary Jamaican reggae singer Frederick “Toots” Hibbert is going to have to wait longer to find out if he will …
Mr. Hibbert

Legendary Jamaican reggae singer Frederick “Toots” Hibbert is going to have to wait longer to find out if he will be awarded millions of dollars for the injuries he suffered when a drunken Henrico County man threw a liquor bottle that hit him in the head during a May 2013 outdoor festival in Richmond.

Mr. Hibbert is suing William C. Lewis, the bottle thrower who was sentenced to serve six months in jail, and Venture Richmond, which organized the 2013 Dominion Riverrock Festival on Brown’s Island.

Mr. Hibbert is seeking $20 million in compensatory damages from Venture Richmond and $1 million in compensatory damages and $20 million in punitive damages from Mr. Lewis.

Richmond attorney Stanley P. Wellman, who is representing Venture Richmond in the lawsuit, said a jury originally was scheduled to hear the case in September, but the case “has been continued given the upcoming (UCI Road World Championships) bike races.”

“I suspect the new trial date will be in the winter or spring of 2016,” he added in an email reply to a Free Press query.

Mr. Wellman, who works with Henrico County-based Harman, Claytor, Corrigan & Wellman, added that the two suits have “been consolidated for discovery and trial” and will be heard by a single jury.

Mr. Lewis, then 20, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery in December 2013, and was sentenced to six months in the City Jail for injuring the Grammy Award winner by hurling and hitting him with the bottle May 19, 2013, during the festival.

A dazed Mr. Hibbert was taken to VCU Medical Center, treated for a deep gash in his head and released.

Based on doctors’ orders and due to continuing medical issues related to the head injury, Mr. Hibbert, now 72, has not performed since then with his famed globe-trotting band, Toots & the Maytals. He says he suffers from memory loss that keeps him from playing well or writing new songs. He also has said he fears performing in public.

Mr. Hibbert originally included another festival organizer, the Metropolitan Richmond Sports Backers, and the companies that provided security and concessions in his suit, but they were later eliminated from liability based on Richmond court rulings.

Mr. Wellman stated that he’s ready for the trial and is confident that jurors will find that Venture Richmond bears no responsibility for any injuries that Mr. Hibbert suffered.

“These (injuries) were caused by the criminal actions of an intoxicated young man who was immediately apprehended by security officers provided by Venture Richmond,” he explained.

“Additionally,” he added, “Mr. Hibbert’s damage claim is grossly overstated and will be thoroughly refuted at trial.”