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Joe Budden has been cleared in his lewdness and stalking case after a judge determined he didn't commit any crimes.
The rapper-turned-podcaster spoke about the outcome of his trial during the most recent episode of The Joe Budden Podcast. Budden began by detailing his previous issues with his neighbor across the hall before he got to the night in question. The plaintiff accused him of lewdness and stalking after she saw him sleepwalking in front of her door while nude. In video footage captured on her Ring camera, she saw Budden try to enter the code to his door before he retreated to his apartment.
"These people decided to misuse some of the systems that are in place for real victims and they went to the police to file a report to say that Joe Budden was outside their door masturbating on their door,and they don't know if I was there with the intention to 'r-word' her and her family," Budden explained. "What would seem like a sleep-walking, medical condition — no. It turned into something much bigger. So I been gone for the past month because I had a civil suit."
Later, Budden revealed what happened during the trial. The proceedings lasted a few days and the judge got to hear testimony from both sides. Budden said the woman got on the stand on day one and cried "white woman tears" before her husband testified. His neighbor told the judge she believed he was fully erect when he was at the door because he appeared to touch his penis in the 10-second video. Instead of bringing in his doctor to testify to his past issues with sleepwalking, Budden said his attorneys called his girlfriend to the stand.
"Was he flaccid," Budden said while recalling his lawyer's question to his girl. "Absolutely," she replied while she was on the phone with Budden.
"He was like 'Was he at all erect?' and I was like 'Absolutely not,'" his girl said.
In the end, the judge determined that Budden was neither masturbating nor trying to force himself into his neighbor's apartment. She reportedly told the court, “Mr. Budden was not erect. He was not masturbating. The one time that he touched his penis, he appeared to be trying to cover himself. Mr. Budden was not trying to forcibly enter."
The trial happened shortly after the Edgewater Police Department issued a press release, in which they described Budden's situation. Chief Donald A. Martin revealed the accusations and said the New Jersey native was charged with lewdness. Budden's attorney Nima Ameri slammed Chief Martin's press release in a scathing statement. She accused him of being racist and claimed Martin tried to "gain some free publicity for himself."
Watch the entire episode below.