Sexual Assault Suit Against Vin Diesel Tossed on a Technicality
A judge tossed the remaining claims in the sexual assault lawsuit against Vin Diesel, dismissing the case on a jurisdictional technicality rather than the merits. The plaintiff is weighing an appeal, keeping the legal fight alive.
Vin Diesel just scored a courtroom win, and not because a judge decided who was telling the truth. The last pieces of a sexual battery and retaliation lawsuit were tossed on a technicality: where the alleged assault happened and which state’s laws can be used to sue over it.
What the judge actually ruled
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel M. Crowley dismissed the remaining claims from Asta Jonasson’s lawsuit after finding that the accusations center on an incident in Atlanta, Georgia, during the 2010 shoot for Fast Five. Because the alleged conduct took place in Georgia, Crowley said California law cannot be used to pursue the claims unless the California Legislature explicitly said the statute applies outside the state. He said it did not.
He also found the claims time-barred and said they could not be revived under California’s AB 2777 (a law that reopened a window for some older sexual assault claims), noting there is no clear language in that statute that extends it beyond California’s borders. In other words: wrong jurisdiction, wrong law, and too late under the clock.
The judge’s ruling did not address the truth or falsity of the allegations themselves.
"The Court did not decide anything about the truth of Ms. Asta Jonasson’s allegations. The ruling was based on a legal technicality, with which we respectfully disagree. Ms. Jonasson intends to appeal."
"We are grateful that the court put an end to this meritless lawsuit. We are pleased that this matter has been resolved entirely."
What Jonasson says happened
Jonasson filed her suit in 2023, claiming Diesel sexually assaulted her during Fast Five production in 2010. In her complaint, she said she repeatedly said no and tried to pull away, and accused Diesel of abusing his position as her employer. She also alleged she was fired the very next day for resisting and that the incident was covered up.
Diesel’s side has flatly denied the accusations since the outset, calling the claims categorically false.
How each side framed it
Jonasson’s attorney, Matthew Hale, argued there were enough California ties to keep the case in a Los Angeles court and to use California law. Diesel’s team countered that the claims were about a purely out-of-state incident, so California statutes do not apply. Judge Crowley sided with the defense on the law and the timing.
The short version
- 2010: Jonasson alleges Diesel sexually assaulted her in Atlanta during Fast Five and says she was fired the next day.
- 2023: She files suit in Los Angeles for sexual battery and retaliation. Diesel denies everything.
- Now: Judge Daniel M. Crowley throws out the remaining claims, saying California law cannot be applied to alleged conduct in Georgia and that the claims were time-barred, not saved by AB 2777.
- Next: Jonasson plans to appeal. No court has weighed in on the truth of the allegations themselves.
What it means
The case is closed at the trial court level on legal grounds, not on the facts. If Jonasson appeals, the fight shifts to whether California laws can reach conduct that allegedly happened in Georgia and whether AB 2777 can revive those claims. For now, Diesel’s side gets a clean win on the technical issues, and the larger questions move to the appellate stage.