A 4th District judge has ruled in favor of a friend of Gary Coleman in a personal injury lawsuit, but the former child star himself is not yet off the hook.

Paul Rohbock is named in a personal injury lawsuit against Coleman and his wife, Shannon Price. He recently filed a motion for summary judgment through his attorney, asking the judge to decide the case without a full trial, because he caused no injury or harm to the plaintiff, Colt Rushton. Because Rushton failed to reply to the motion, Judge Samuel McVey ruled in favor of Rohbock.

Rushton's attorney, Dustin Lance, said Rohbock obtained his own attorney in the matter and then spoke with Lance about his involvement. In the end, Lance said he and Rushton decided not to oppose Rohbock's motion before the judge.

"After meeting with Paul, it was pretty clear that he was an observer in the situation," Lance said.

Coleman pleaded no contest in December to charges of disorderly conduct and reckless driving after allegedly hitting Rushton with his truck in September after an altercation over photos at a bowling alley. According to documents from Rushton's personal injury case against Coleman, Rushton was bowling with friends Sept. 6 when he spotted Coleman and began taking pictures with his cell phone.

Rushton claims he continued bowling and was approached by Rohbock, who told him any further photos would cost him $20. The court documents state that Rushton and his friends later left the bowling alley and Rushton saw Coleman's truck in the parking lot and decided to take a picture. As he took a picture, Rushton was attacked from behind and his cell phone was taken away.

Coleman and his wife later allegedly got into the truck with Rushton's cell phone. As Rushton went around the truck to the driver's side door to ask for his phone, Coleman allegedly threw the truck into reverse, swerved and hit Rushton with the front fender of the truck, knocking him to the ground.

McVey ruled in February that the videotaped depositions from Coleman and Price would not be released to the public until the lawsuit has been settled. Because the depositions are sealed, Lance said he could not discuss the couple's testimony, but said that based on Price's and Rohbock's testimony, it was clear Rohbock was not involved.

"In her deposition, it was pretty clear what happened," Lance said.

In return, Lance said he has filed his own motion for summary judgment against Coleman and Price, which they have not yet responded to. Lance said Rushton was happy with the decision to let Rohbock out of the lawsuit. There were not many specifics on who did what before, but testimony has since cleared some facts up.

"We're just trying to make the case cleaner and less complicated for trial," he said.

It is likely the lawsuit will proceed to trial, but it probably won't be at that point for more than a year, Lance said. Coleman and Price have been fighting the lawsuit and refuse to even pay medical bills, which Lance says now total more than $15,000 for Rushton's knee injury.

"They've taken a pretty hard stance on this," he said.

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