Patti LaBelle's bodyguard acquitted of assault

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HOUSTON (AP) — Singer Patti LaBelle’s bodyguard has been acquitted of misdemeanor assault in a confrontation with a drunken West Point cadet at a Houston airport terminal.

A Harris County jury returned its verdict Monday clearing Efrem Holmes in the 2011 confrontation with Richard King at a Bush Intercontinental Airport terminal.

According to trial evidence, King had a blood-alcohol level almost 3½ times above the Texas legal threshold for intoxication and didn’t remember what happened the day of the incident. According to testimony and surveillance video, King approached a limousine containing LaBelle and verbally abused the performer when her son tried to block his way. King punched him, and Holmes sprang up and punched King several times.

King filed a lawsuit against the singer and Holmes. LaBelle countersued.

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