Chris Brown Testifies at Dog Mauling Trial: ‘It Was A Lot of Blood’

Courts and Crime

The singer defended his response when a housekeeper was attacked by a security dog on his property, saying the bloody scene left him "in shock”

Chris Brown testified Thursday he was “in shock” when he discovered a housekeeper lying face down outside his Los Angeles home, severely injured after being mauled by a massive security dog on his property five years ago.

Taking the stand Thursday for the first time at a civil trial in Van Nuys, Calif., Brown acknowledged some responsibility for Maria Avila’s injuries that day but denied owning the Central Asian Ovcharka, named Hades, that attacked her. The singer claimed the rare breed had been purchased by his security team. Over nearly three hours of testimony, Brown defended his decision not to personally call 911, not to render aid to Avila as she bled on his walkway, and to leave the scene before paramedics and police arrived.

Brown, 37, said he was about to take a shower when he heard Hades growling and rushed downstairs to investigate on Dec. 12, 2020. He claims he saw Avila on the ground, not moving, and secured the dog in a kennel as he yelled to a guard to “get the fuck over here.” He told jurors he bent down and got about a foot away from Avila to confirm she was still breathing. When she rolled over a short time later, moaning, he saw fresh blood on the concrete, on her arm, and on her face, he testified.

When Avila’s lawyer, Nancy Doumanian, asked Brown to describe the “open lacerations” on Avila’s face, the singer pointed to his forehead and traced a finger down his nose and under his right eye. “It was cut, like, severed,” he said. “I know it’s graphic, but you could see the skin was kind of raised. You could see the cut and the blood coming out.” He said he never made physical contact with Avila at any time.

“It was a lot of blood,” he admitted under questioning by Michael Murphy, Jr., the lawyer representing Avila’s sister, a fellow housekeeper who was with her that day and has her own claim against Brown. “The blood kind of freaked me out a little bit,” he said when it was his own lawyer’s turn to ask questions.

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Brown said it was true he didn’t call 911 himself because he didn’t want the recording to get leaked and create a media “circus.” He also confirmed he never asked his security to preserve his home surveillance video from the incident, and he claimed it was his manager’s suggestion that he leave the house before the first responders arrived.

“He wanted to make sure she was taken care of [and] to get me away from the publicity,” Brown said.

“What would have been the problem with you being there and waiting for paramedics to get there with a woman bleeding in your driveway? Why would that be a problem for you as a celebrity?” Doumanian asked, incredulous.

“Because of how my image is and always used. I didn’t want a misleading story, or like a circus, from my status. It’s pretty sticky when it comes to that. So me staying out of the way was advised,” he said.

“Didn’t you think your reputation would take a bigger hit if you fled the scene?” Doumanian pressed. Brown said he didn’t flee. But he agreed he spent a couple of hours driving around and stopping at a gas station before he was advised it was clear to come home.

“Did you put your hand under her head? Put a towel under her head, or your sweater under her head, anything like that?” Doumanian asked. Did he ever offer to get Avila some water, she asked. Brown said he did not.

“I never touched her,” he repeated. “I’m in shock.”

During a jury selection process that included a mistrial ruling involving an initial panel that had to be excused and replaced due to juror misconduct, Brown’s lawyer said in court that his client agreed Avila was owed some amount of damages from the singer. The lawyer said the case would come down to a “difference of opinion” over how much.

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Brown claimed on the stand Thursday that he had warned Avila and her sister not to go outside without asking him first. He claimed he told the women, in English, that the dogs weren’t friendly. Doumanian said the women were Spanish speakers, so if the conversation took place, which the women deny, they would not have understood him. He claimed they said “okay.”

In her lawsuit, Avila says the large dog appeared out of nowhere and started tearing flesh — and even bone — from her face and arm as she “screamed in terror and called out for help.” She claims Brown came outside, stood over her while talking on his phone, then “fled the scene” as she lay bleeding in the driveway. Avila says she needed emergency surgery and now suffers permanent disfigurement, nerve damage, and vision loss.

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“It attacked me on my face, my hand, and it pierced its teeth on my foot,” she said in an October 2023 deposition. “I didn’t see it, I simply felt it — it was something really big.” Avila didn’t see Brown take the dog away, she said. “I only heard the car that left.”

The judge hearing the trial previously granted Brown’s request to bar questions about his 2009 felony assault of his ex-girlfriend, Rihanna. During jury selection on Monday, several prospective jurors said they couldn’t be unbiased because they knew about his history of domestic violence. The judge said that history was not relevant to the dog mauling trial, but he dismissed the jurors anyway.