DOCUMENT: Crime

Judge Shows David Gest The Door

Tossed lawsuit claimed Liza Minnelli was a drunken spousal abuser

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Judge Shows David Gest The Door

SEPTEMBER 25--A New York judge today tossed a $10 million lawsuit brought against Liza Minnelli by her estranged husband, who claimed that the singer beat him silly during the couple's tumultuous 16-month marriage. David Gest's civil complaint, filed in October 2003, was bounced by New York State Supreme Court Judge Jane Solomon, who ruled that Gest was unable to establish that his purported injuries came at the hands of an allegedly alcohol-fueled Minnelli. In fact, Solomon ruled, the 53-year-old Gest failed to rebut assertions from Minnelli's medical expert that Gest's headaches actually came as a result of him suffering from a type of herpes. In his lawsuit, a copy of which you'll find below, Gest charged that he became a 'victim of domestic violence' at the hands of the 60-year-old Minnelli. Gest's complaint chronicled alleged beatings in London, Italy, and New York and claimed that Minnelli once threw a lamp at him, punched a security guard, choked a male employee of Gest's, and bit another security official. As a result of the pummelling, Gest claimed, he was left in 'virtually constant, unrelenting pain' that required '11 prescription medications per day, some more than once.' Gest's various ailments were detailed in medical records filed during the litigation. (10 pages)