Chris Brown to Receive New Dog Attack Trial if Housekeeper Declines Reduced $9.5M Payout

Courts and Crime

Chris Brown Will Get New Dog Attack Trial, But Only If Housekeeper Rejects Reduced $9.5 Million Award

A judge called the original $12.9 million in damages award "excessive"

By Charisma Madarang

Charisma Madarang

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September 29, 2026

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A judge ruled that Chris Brown is entitled to a new trial over $12.9 million in damages that a jury awarded to housekeeper Maria Avila, who was attacked by a 200-pound dog at the R&B singer’s home. If Avila accepts the reduced award, however, then the trial will not go forward.

According to Billboard , Los Angeles County Judge Huey P. Cotton has given Avila the option to choose a a reduced $9.5 million damages award or retry her claims against Brown. “The court finds that the jury’s award to Maria Avila is excessive,” the judge’s order stated. “The court elects to issue a conditional order granting a new trial, as to Maria Avila only, on the issue of damages unless Plaintiff consents to a reduction of the jury’s damages to $9.5 million.”

During the two-week trial last June, Avila took the witness stand and broke down crying as she recounted for jurors the Dec. 12, 2020, mauling at Brown’s home in the Tarzana neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. Avila said the attack left her with severe injuries to her arm and face, extensive scarring, and post-traumatic stress disorder. In Tuesday’s decision, Cotton said Avila should be compensated for emotional distress and “persistent pain” from the attack, but that there was “insufficient evidence of extensive permanent nerve damage.”

Cotton kept a separate $855,000 award by the jury to Avila’s sister, Patricia Avila, who was working with Maria when the attack happened, intact. The amount was for past economic damages and emotional distress.

Before trial, Brown admitted negligence under California’s dog-bite statute. He continued to dispute the extent of Avila’s injuries and claimed he had warned Avila and her sister — both Spanish speakers — not to go outside without asking him first because his dogs were not friendly. The women denied the conversation took place.

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_Originally reported by [Rolling Stone](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/chris-brown-dog-attack-housekeeper-award-new-trial-1235634359/)._