Maria Avila accepts $9.5M in Chris Brown dog attack case
Maria Avila has accepted a reduced $9.5 million award in her dog-attack case against Chris Brown after a Los Angeles judge found a nearly $13 million jury verdict excessive. The ruling means Maria Avila Chris Brown damages will stand at $9.5 million unless further appealed, avoiding a new trial on damages alone.
Key Takeaways
- A Los Angeles jury awarded housekeeper Maria Avila about $12.9 million after a 2020 dog mauling at Chris Brown’s Tarzana home.
- Judge Huey P. Cotton ruled the award excessive and offered a $9.5 million remittitur or a new damages trial.
- Avila accepted the reduced $9.5 million award, ending the need for a new trial on damages.
- Brown had admitted negligence under California’s dog-bite statute while disputing the extent of her injuries.
What happened in the Maria Avila Chris Brown dog attack case?
In December 2020, Maria Avila was working as a housekeeper at Brown’s Tarzana home when she went outside to empty a vacuum. She encountered Brown’s Caucasian shepherd, identified in court as Hades, which attacked her face, arm, and leg.
Avila later described severe scarring, facial injuries requiring dozens of stitches, and lasting trauma. Her sister Patricia Avila sued Brown in 2021, alleging premises liability and related claims after both sisters were hired in November 2020.
After a two-week civil trial in Van Nuys in June, a jury awarded Maria Avila roughly $12.9 million. Patricia Avila was awarded $885,000, and Maria’s husband received $50,000, according to court coverage.
Why did the court cut the nearly $13 million award?
On Sept. 29, 2026, Judge Huey P. Cotton granted Brown’s motion for a new trial on damages, finding the jury’s award to Maria Avila “excessive.” The court cited insufficient evidence of “extensive permanent nerve damage” and of the value of future pain and suffering.
Cotton said Avila could accept $9.5 million or face a new trial limited to damages. He rejected arguments that the overall trial was unfair, including claims about juror bias from mention of Brown’s 2008 assault case, according to Billboard.
Avila’s lawyer, Nancy Doumanian, filed notice that she “unequivocally accepts” the reduction to $9,500,000. That choice avoided the cost, uncertainty, and emotional toll of retrying damages.
What does the reduced verdict mean for Chris Brown now?
Brown, through his lawyers, had argued the original award was unsupported. He testified he heard the dog growling, found Avila injured, and sought help, while acknowledging he did not personally call 911.
Before trial, Brown admitted negligence under California’s dog-bite statute but claimed Avila was partly at fault for going outside alone. The jury rejected that comparative-fault argument.
Whether Brown will still appeal the reduced $9.5 million figure was not immediately clear. For readers following courtroom fallout and celebrity liability stories, more coverage lives in our True Crime & Unsolved Mysteries hub, alongside reporting from the Los Angeles Times.