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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A driver sued along with Jennifer Lopez and her production company after an SUV they were in allegedly struck and injured a pedestrian behind a West Hollywood restaurant is seeking a mental examination of the plaintiff.
Liyanage Roshan Perera's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit states that he was standing in the rear of Craig's restaurant on Melrose Avenue on Oct. 16, 2018, when he was hit by a Cadillac SUV driven by Jeffrey Bellamy, who is a defendant in the case along with the 53-year-old actress and Nuyorican Productions Inc., which employed Bellamy.
Lopez and her former fiance, Alex Rodriguez, were sitting in the back seat of the SUV when the incident occurred, according to Bellamy's lawyers' court papers. Rodriguez was originally named in the negligence complaint filed in August 2019, but was dropped as a defendant last August.
Perera's attorneys stated in recent court papers that their client suffered a traumatic brain injury during the incident. That assertion makes it necessary that a neuropsychological examination be conducted of the plaintiff to help determine the areas of Perera's brain allegedly impacted, according to the court papers of Bellamy's attorneys, which were filed Monday and ask that West Los Angeles neuropsychologist Po-Haong Lu be permitted to conduct the testing April 6.
"Where a plaintiff has placed his or her mental condition in controversy, defendant is entitled to examine plaintiff's mental condition," Bellamy's attorneys state.
Such testing can also determine how depression, anxiety, life stress and other factors are allegedly impacting Perera's cognitive functioning, Bellamy's lawyers further argue in their court papers. The same attorneys also state that Perera's lawyers did not agree to the examination, making it necessary to file the motion in court.
A hearing on Bellamy's motion is scheduled March 2 before Judge Serena Murillo.