Fred Davis Nightclub Trial Reveals New Details—and New Intrigues

NFL star Fred Davis stood trial in Washington today, more than two years into a legal soap opera that has involved everything from an alleged celebrity “madam/pimpette” to a tight-end lawyer.

An attorney for Makini R. Chaka asked a DC Superior Court judge to grant her more than $350,000 in punitive damages from Davis, who she claimed assaulted her at Josephine Nightclub and Lounge in DC in 2011. Davis allegedly dumped juice on Chaka and threw the empty pitcher at her head, injuring her lip. Davis admits only throwing the juice on Chaka, and said he did so after she tossed a drink on him. “I was assaulted first,” Davis insisted.

Chaka is demanding compensation for medical bills, emotional distress, and property damage. “My boots, which were suede, were damaged by the acid in the juice,” said Chaka, a 34-year-old Baltimore woman. 

Chaka has identified herself as a “celebrity broker,” who arranges parties for athletes and celebrities. Her clients have included rapper Snoop Dogg and several Baltimore Ravens players, she has said. She testified that she has lost clients as a result of the negative attention surrounding the incident.

“Fred Davis ruined my entire business,” a tearful Chaka said today. “I lost everything.”

Chaka claimed she earned between $60,000 and $70,000 a year from her celebrity business in 2010. But her 2011 earnings were only $20,000 as a result of the negative publicity she garnered through her trouble with Davis. “No one wanted to do business with me,” she testified. She had to take a day job as a secretary in order to avoid being “homeless,” Chaka testified.

Chaka’s lawyer is also asking for a court order requiring Davis to “remain at least a football field away” from Chaka.

An attorney for Davis, who played five seasons for the Washington Redskins but recently became a free agent, called Chaka’s request for $350,000 “totally egregious.”

“The most she is entitled to is a drycleaning bill,” Davis lawyer said, adding that Chaka was trying to “extort money from Mr. Davis.” 

Davis had a $5.4 million contract with the Redskins for the 2012 season, during which he was sidelined with an injury.

After The Washingtonian broke the news of the civil case in June 2012, the dispute garnered national attention for two reasons. First, Davis’s sometimes bodyguard Stewart Prince alleged in court documents that Chaka is “a ‘madam/pimpette’ who provides escorts to high-profile athletes and entertainers.”

“It is well known in the sports and entertainment industry, particularly in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, that [Chaka] recruits women to work for her and provide sexual favors to athletes or other entertainer[s] in exchange for money,” Prince said in court documents. He said he knew “at least two women who [Chaka] attempted to recruit to work for her in this capacity.”

Chaka has denied procuring prostitutes for anyone.

Second, both Chaka and Davis have spent much of the pretrial portions of this case representing themselves as armchair lawyers, leading to exchanges like this one at an April 2012 hearing:

Davis: “As it shows, you also have your hand on his genitals. I mean why would you take a picture like that?”

Chaka: “I do not. Let’s look closely at the exhibit right here, Judge. Where is my hand placed in this exhibit?”

Judge: “I do not answer questions…. The witness does.”

Chaka: “Can you tell me where my hand is actually at in this photo?”

Davis: “It looks like it’s in the genitals to me. I mean your hands are on his genitals. Your hand is on his—”

Chaka: “Objection.”

Luke Mullins

Senior Writer

Luke Mullins is a senior writer at Washingtonian magazine focusing on the people and institutions that control the city’s levers of power. He has written about the Koch Brothers’ attempt to take over The Cato Institute, David Gregory’s ouster as moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press, the collapse of Washington’s Metro system, and the conflict that split apart the founders of Politico.