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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A judge has ordered four members of the Kardashian family to sit for depositions as part of Blac Chyna's defense of an assault and battery suit brought against her by former fiance Rob Kardashian.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gregory W. Alarcon's ruling gives Chyna's attorney Lynne Ciani half the amount of time she requested for posing questions to Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian West, Khloe Kardashian and Kylie Jenner. Ciani, who had asked for up to four hours of inquiries for each deponent, said during a hearing Friday that her questions would not duplicate ground already explored in another case involving the Kardashian-Jenner clan.
After taking the matter under submission, Alarcon ruled later Friday that there would be a two-hour ceiling on the depositions.
Michael G. Rhodes, an attorney for the four proposed deponents, had urged Alarcon to quash the subpoenas, arguing that Ciani had gotten all the information she needs from her inquiries to them in the other case.
``She wants a redo of all these depositions,'' Rhodes said. ``These matters have been covered before ad nauseam.''
Rhodes further said that permitting Ciani to pose additional questions would be ``cumulative, redundant and harassing.''
But the judge said Rhodes had not shown that allowing the depositions to go forward would be an unreasonable burden on the four targeted Kardashian- Jenner deponents.
All four Kardashian family members submitted sworn declarations in support of the motion to quash, but their statements were brought under seal.
Rob Kardashian sued Chyna, a model and socialite whose real name is Angela White, in September 2017, alleging that she committed domestic violence against him on Dec. 14, 2016, at the Hidden Hills home they shared and that belonged to Kylie Jenner.
In the related suit, Chyna sued Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian West, Khloe Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, alleging that they lied about Chyna assaulting Rob Kardashian when speaking to E! network executives in order to prevent Chyna from booking a second season of the former couple's reality television show, ``Rob & Chyna.''
Each of the previous depositions lasted an entire day and collectively totaled about 25 hours, according to the Jenner-Kardashian attorneys' court papers.
``The Kardashians/Jenners are extremely busy with business and professional commitments scheduled months in advance, and it would be excessively disruptive and burdensome to force their additional depositions to take place on such short notice,'' Rhodes and the other Jenner-Kardashian attorneys argued in their court papers.
But Ciani told Alarcon during the hearing that while there may be some overlap, defending an assault and battery case is completely different from being the plaintiff's attorney in a case involving defamation and contractual issues.
In a September 2020 ruling, Judge Randolph M. Hammock denied Chyna's initial motion to dismiss Kardashian's case. But last May, Ciani filed a renewed motion to toss the suit, citing what the lawyer said are ``bombshell admissions'' by Kardashian in Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services reports that Chyna never committed any domestic violence against him.
Media reports surfaced in 2017 that the DCFS had taken steps to look into the well-being of the couple's daughter, Dream Renee, who is now 5 years old. In a sworn declaration regarding Chyna's alleged assault on him, Rob Kardashian said that when his ex-fiancee is ``drunk and high, she is very strong.''
In addition to threatening him with his own gun, Chyna tried to choke him, Kardashian says.
``While I was in the living room, Chyna came up behind me with an iPhone charger and wrapped it around my neck tightly and started choking me with the charger,'' Kardashian says. ``At one point, as Chyna was choking me with the charger wrapped very tightly around my neck, I was fortunate enough to pull the cable off my neck. I went to the master bedroom to get away from her and locked the door.''
Rhodes told Alarcon that none of his clients were present when Chyna's alleged assault on Rob Kardashian occurred.
The trial of Rob Kardashian's suit is scheduled for Feb. 23 and Chyna's motion to dismiss the case is set for Feb. 9. Ciani said the four Kardashian-Jenner depositions will not be needed if Chyna's motion to toss the case is granted.
Chyna, 33, and Kardashian, 34, began dating in January 2016 and their daughter was born that November. They broke up in the summer of 2017.