Juvenile won a victory in Duval County Court in Florida yesterday
(Nov. 9), after the chart-topping rapper was found not liable for injuring a Jacksonville
police officer’s knee during a scuffle at a local mall in 1999. Police officer
Mellisa Huxley-Bujeda filed a lawsuit against Juvenile in 2003, claiming he was
responsible for her knee injury, after an altercation and arrest at the Regency
Square Mall in July of 1999.

The New Orleans-based rapper and members of his entourage were in Jacksonville
for a show in 1999. The group stopped at the Regency Square Mall to do some
last minute shopping, when security guards asked them to leave for being in
violation of the mall’s dress code.

According to reports, members of his entourage were wearing various colored
bandannas, which in some areas signifies an affiliation with a gang. Some malls
across the country have instituted a similar policy, in order to keep gang bangers
out. Juvenile and his friends were allegedly also using profanity, another violation
of the mall’s rules. Security guards called off-duty officer Mellisa Huxley-Bujeda
to the scene to issue a trespassing warning.

When Bujeda attempted to intervene a scuffle ensued. She claimed her knee was
injured when she attempted to control Juvenile during the fracas. At one point,
the two struggled on the ground as Bujeda attempted to handcuff the rapper.
Juvenile was eventually subdued, arrested and charged with breach of the peace
and resisting an officer with violence. The charges were eventually dropped,
but Bujeda filed a lawsuit, seeking almost $70,000 in medical bills as a result
of subsequent surgeries.

Yesterday, the rapper’s attorneys called numerous witnesses to the stand, including
an expert who revealed that Bujeda had degenerative arthritis for years and
had actually injured her knees about 35 times as a child, through cheerleading,
gymnastics and other physical activities.

"We got them, we got them, we got them," Juvenile told Jacksonville’s
Times-Union. "Just the fact that it’s a rap artist against the police,
that never happens. Rappers never win. We never win against the police or the
government…let this be a lesson to all pedestrians out there. Targeting entertainers
ain’t the quickest way to get rich."

Juvenile said he has penned a new song about the trial titled "The Verdict"
and it may be a part of his new upcoming album. "I got to benefit off this
in some kind of way," Juvenile said.