Closing arguments made in Ja Morant civil suit

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - No ruling was made in court Wednesday in the civil case against Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant.

Therefore, we will have to wait until after the New Year to see if Morant’s legal team fairly argued self-defense as justification for punching a teen during a pickup basketball game in 2022.

Closing arguments in Shelby County Circuit Court did not last long Wednesday.

Attorneys for Joshua Holloway argued for the court to consider whether Morant demonstrated a reasonable belief that he was in imminent danger of serious bodily injury and needed to use force to protect himself.

”The only thing that he was fearing at that point was Joshua Holloway holding onto his pants, a 17-year-old kid holding onto his pants,” said Holloway’s attorney Rebecca Alderman. “Because I guess where everyone’s from holding onto your pants means you’re going to punch someone in the face.”

In the closing argument, Morant’s legal team rebutted, “Mr. Morant only hit Mr. Holloway one time,” said Attorney Keenan Carter. “The testimony was also by everyone that it did not knock Mr. Holloway down.”

Morant’s attorneys argued that Morant tried to get clarity before throwing a punch on July 26, 2022.

Morant’s attorneys argued there is no evidence that his ordinary force injured Holloway.

“Mr. Holloway has not testified. There is no evidence before this court that Mr. Holloway was injured,” said Carter. “There’s no testimony before this court of Mr. Holloway’s size. For all the court knows he’s 6′10″, 300 pounds.”

The court needs to further review the proof to make a ruling. A date for a ruling will be set 30 days from when both attorneys submit final evidence.

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