Published 4 July 2017
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News
Court Orders Soca Star Destra to Pay for Rupturing Man’s Bladder During Performance
BELMOPAN, Belize, Tuesday July 4, 2017 – Destra Garcia’s energy on stage makes her one of the Caribbean’s most popular soca artistes, but it has landed her in trouble with the Belize Supreme Court.
The court has ordered the Trinidadian to pay just over US$8,000 after it found that she injured Belizean Fernando Oliva while gyrating on him at a concert in September 2015.
The man filed a lawsuit claiming that Garcia jumped on him and ruptured his bladder as she performed at The Carnival Overload concert.
According to his attorney, Steve Perrera, Oliva was called on stage to dance with Garcia but later had to be rushed to hospital.
“She had asked him to lay down on the ground, to close his eyes, and to put his hands behind his head…Thereafter, suddenly Miss Garcia jumped in the air and landed on [Oliva], thereby causing injury to him. As a result, after the event, he had to seek medical attention at the hospital,” the lawyer said.
“Our claim is a situation of negligence. We are saying that the musician was negligent in her actions and her actions thereby caused injury to the individual.”
The court granted a default judgment against Destra as she did not enter a defence. Lawyers said they are in talks with attorneys in Trinidad and Tobago to enforce the judgment in that jurisdiction. They have sought the assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Trinidad and Tobago to serve Destra with the documents.
The soca artiste has the right to appeal the judgment in Belize.
She has promised to issue a statement through her attorney.
