Joe Budden has been cleared of lewdness and stalking charges following a December incident with his neighbor in New Jersey.
On the latest episode of his eponymous podcast, Budden broke down the multi-day trial that went down at the top of the year – which kicked off with the neighbor accusing him of the acts “immediately” crying “white woman tears” upon taking the stand.
While Budden has explained on his podcast that his issues with sleepwalking ultimately led to the incident involved (he walked naked to his neighbor’s door and tried to put in his own door code before walking away), he noted that he did not want to bring his doctor into the trial because it would create a longer process with the prosecution then likely bringing in their own expert.
Instead, he chose to call his girlfriend to the stand – who was able to testify that he was not fully erect in the Ring camera video from his neighbor and therefore clearly not masturbating as she alleged.
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After a few days of testimony, the judge took the weekend to make her decision, and ultimately cleared Budden of any wrongdoing.
“Mr. Budden was not erect. He was not masturbating,” he said the judge told the court. “The one time that he touched his penis, he appeared to be trying to cover himself. Mr. Budden was not trying to forcibly enter .”
Budden added: “She was fair, reasonable, heard all the testimony, was attentive, [and] wasn’t on no bullsh*t.”
Joe budden says he beat the case against the White Russian lady that took him to court . He says the video camera evidence is what helped him win against them . And now he’s back at his studio 💪🙏 pic.twitter.com/2QgIefbXeU
— joebuddenclips/fanpage (@Chatnigga101) January 8, 2025
On New Year’s Eve (December 31), Edgewater Police Department in New Jersey confirmed in a press release that Joe Budden was charged earlier in December over the alleged incident.
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He was accused of standing outside his neighbor’s apartment door “completely naked” in the early hours of December 4 and “attempting to enter a code into the door keypad several times before reentering his own residence across the hall,” according to police.
Taking to X following the press release, Budden wrote: “Yall so dramatic lol.”
He also made light of the situation with a meme to his Instagram Story, showing a man laughing as he shows someone else something on his phone.
Budden’s lawyer Nima Ameri told TMZ at the time that his client is disappointed by the charges being made public and that he is pursuing his own legal action against the neighbor.
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“Mr. Budden is saddened by Police Chief Martin’s press release. Mr. Budden has been waiting weeks for his cross complaints to be processed which include substantially more serious charges include possible felony charges against the persons behind these charges against him,” Ameri said.
“The Chief has in our opinion sat on those but instead used his time to gain some free publicity for himself. Chief Martin should seek publicity by doing notable policing not inflaming disorderly person allegations.”
The attorney further accused Edgewater Police chief Donald A. Martin of racism: “The allegations against Mr. Budden are a minor charge, not even resulting in an arrest. A charge Mr. Budden is looking forward to beating in court on the merits, not in the press. The Chief’s comments are reckless, and in our opinion racially motivated.
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“Our research has not shown a single press release on a disorderly person charge on the police website this year. His choice to single out Mr. Budden in our opinion is self motivated and based off of Mr. Budden’s race and celebrity status.”
