Lillie Coley said a misrepresented court ruling has driven her into bankruptcy, tied to the Jay-Z paternity case.
Lillie Coley accused the New Jersey Attorney General of distorting court records in a high-stakes federal filing as she continues to fight the legal aftermath of her godson’s failed paternity case against Jay-Z, a battle she says has driven her into bankruptcy.
The legal saga dates back more than a decade, when Rymir Satterthwaite and his mother tried to bring a paternity claim against Jay-Z in New Jersey, with Coley serving as her godson’s legal representative.
The case was tossed in 2011 and reaffirmed in 2012 due to jurisdictional issues.
Despite that, Coley continued to pursue the matter through civil filings and public pleas, becoming the public face of the effort after courts refused to compel a DNA test from the Hip-Hop mogul.
In new court documents, Coley requested reconsideration of a prior ruling, alleging that the state’s top legal office misrepresented material facts in the long-running dispute involving her Satterthwaite.
She argued the misstatements have already affected the outcome of her federal case.
She wrote that the Attorney General’s recent assertion that New Jersey family court “did have jurisdiction” over the original paternity case is “demonstrably and provably false,” pointing to multiple court orders from 2012 that dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction.
Coley is now begging a judge to revisit the issue, saying the state’s filing “is a material misrepresentation made in a federal appellate court, directly conflicting with the actual state-court record.”
She claims that this new evidence justifies reopening the matter because it directly affects her request for an injunction and that the defense’s reliance on the family court’s jurisdiction is based on a false premise.
Jay-Z has never acknowledged paternity and has consistently denied the claim. The courts ultimately shut the door on further litigation, leaving Coley to deal with the financial and legal fallout.
In her latest filing, Coley said liens she was slapped with by the state and Jay-Z’s lawyers forced her into bankruptcy. She described the liens as fraudulent and stated that she is currently pursuing an adversary proceeding in bankruptcy court to enjoin enforcement.
“Bankruptcy jurisdiction supersedes state-court enforcement attempts,” she said.
Coley noted that Jay-Z has not filed an opposition and no ruling has yet been issued.
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