Shawn Driz, with Christina Schwarzenegger, from a reel Maria Shriver posted to Instagram on September 12, 2022. Christina Schwarzenegger is not a party to the case and is not accused of any wrongdoing.
Shawn Tommy Driz is the son of Maurice Driz and the nephew of Maurice's twin, Alberto. He was one of the four men a Los Angeles jury found liable in July 2021 for the 2015 assault outside The Nice Guy, and roughly $7.7 million of the punitive damages was assessed against him. Like his co-defendants, he is jointly liable for the entire judgment, which under California's 10% statutory interest has grown from $72,645,492 toward $122 million.
As of the verdict, reputable outlets reported a detail that sets his page apart: Shawn Driz's proximity to political power. See "The Schwarzenegger connection" below.
The 2015 attack was prosecuted criminally as well. Shawn Driz was charged as a co-defendant with felony assault (Penal Code 245(a)(4)) in the Los Angeles criminal case against the group. Court records show his charges ended in a dismissal following a disposition. His father, Maurice, was convicted of felony assault in the same matter, and the family's criminal defense included Robert Shapiro, of O.J. Simpson fame.
Shawn Driz's signature move is the one that named this whole project. At 4:45 p.m. the day before trial, he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy (case 2:21-bk-15494-VZ, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California), a maneuver that drops an automatic stay over a debtor's affairs and, he was betting, would freeze the case before a jury could reach him.
It did not work. On July 8, 2021, the bankruptcy court granted the plaintiffs relief from the stay, and the trial went ahead to the full verdict. The court-appointed trustee then reported the estate as a "no asset" case, with nothing available for the people he owes, even as, according to the plaintiffs' attorneys, Driz spent the trial on a yacht in the Caribbean. On October 1, 2021, Anne, Matthew, and Jeremy filed a nondischargeability action against him (adversary case 2:21-ap-01199) to keep their judgment alive under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(6), which excepts debts for "willful and malicious injury" from a bankruptcy discharge. He took a general Chapter 7 discharge on October 12, 2021, and the case closed on February 1, 2022. Per the plaintiffs' counsel, the judgment against the defendants is not dischargeable in bankruptcy.
At the time of the 2021 verdict, reputable outlets... including Patch and City News Service (republished by MyNewsLA)... identified Shawn Driz as the longtime boyfriend of Christina Schwarzenegger, a daughter of former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. We report this as sourced context for who these defendants are and the world they move in: a man who told a federal bankruptcy court he was a "no asset" case, and who spent his assault trial on a yacht, is tied to one of the most politically connected families in the state. The current status of that relationship is unconfirmed, and Christina Schwarzenegger is not a party to this case and is not accused of any wrongdoing.
The judgment is final and Shawn Driz remains jointly liable for all of it. Los Angeles court records show the underlying case as disposed, with no appeal, while the Greenes are still in court enforcing the judgment through debtor examinations and levy fights that run into late 2026. Every month the defendants stall, the interest meter runs. A jury said Anne is owed. She still has not been paid.
Sources: L.A. Patch · Beverly Press · Kristensen LLP · MyNewsLA / City News Service · Bankruptcy docket (C.D. Cal. No. 2:21-bk-15494-VZ; Adv. 2:21-ap-01199) · Civil docket (BC643270)
