In 2014, local photographer Michael Muñoz sued the pop star. He claimed Bieber's security guards locked him inside a Miami Beach Subway restaurant and proceeded to beat him bloody. But apparently, Bieber hasn't been keen on returning so Muñoz's lawyers can depose him.
He's been so difficult to reach that Wednesday, a Miami-Dade judge demanded Bieber fly here to attend a court deposition. If he doesn't comply within 30 days, he faces "sanctions for [his] contumacious disregard of this court's orders."
Judge Jerald Bagley wrote, "Justin Bieber shall appear for
The writ demands that if cops see Bieber, they should arrest him and haul him to jail. If the judge issues the order, it will be sent to every police chief in Florida.
This is far from the first odd turn in Muñoz's lawsuit. On January 23, 2014, Muñoz, then 35, says he was taking photographs of Bieber outside Set Nightclub on Lincoln Road on a public walkway. He says Bieber bodyguard Dwayne Patterson then chased him into Subway, where he locked the door and cornered him in a back hallway. The suit says Patterson then beat him up in an effort to get his hands on Muñoz's memory card.
Muñoz sued Bieber and Patterson for battery, false imprisonment, and "negligent retention" May 14, 2014. He also personally sued Bieber for negligence for failing to stop Patterson from allegedly beating him.
The pop star "entirely lacked any care that Bieber must have been consciously indifferent to the consequences," the suit says.
But more than two years later, the suit has dragged on. For one, Muñoz's attorneys apparently can't get Bieber back to Miami for any stretch of time to interview him. Two, strange stuff keeps happening: Last March, South Florida gossip reporter Jose Lambiet reported that documents related to four other settlements Bieber had made with people who claimed they'd been beaten had mysteriously vanished from the Miami-Dade County Courthouse.
At this point, it's unclear why Bieber would otherwise want to come back to
Now it appears Bieber will have to postpone the European leg of his Purpose World Tour to head back here again. He's scheduled to perform in a host of European countries — including Norway, Ireland, Germany, Italy, and England — through November 29. It looks like he'll have to cancel or postpone some of those
As of today, he has 28 more days to say sorry.
Here's Bagley's order:
(H/T: Jose Lambiet's GossipExtra)
