LOS ANGELES: Omar Sharif will refuse to pay a $455,000 civil judgment made against him stemming from a scuffle with a Beverly Hills valet, the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday. A lawyer who represented Sharif in the case told the Times that his former client had no intention of paying the settlement because he believed he was "being shaken down on the basis of his celebrity. "His position is that the judgment is never going to be collected, lawyer Martin Singer told the daily. Sharif, 76, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to two years probation in the criminal case stemming from his skirmish with valet Juan Ochoa Anderson outside a steakhouse in 2005. Singer said "Lawrence of Arabia and "Doctor Zhivago star Sharif had been willing to pay "thousands to Anderson in compensation but broke off negotiations after becoming convinced that the valet wanted a settlement based on the actor's fame rather than his actual injuries. As a result, Sharif stopped defending himself against Anderson's civil suit and did not attend the trial, which resulted in a default judgment, including costs, of $445,000. However, Anderson will struggle to collect any of the judgment, the Times reported, saying that Sharif has no assets in the United States and that the judgment will not prevent him from traveling to the country. The only remedies available to Anderson include suing Sharif in Egypt, which would likely be expensive and time-consuming, the Times report said.
