Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green win first round in snapper legal battle

MEGAN FOX and her husband BRIAN AUSTIN GREEN have won the first round in their legal battle with a photographer after a judge ordered the snapper to hand over attorney fees to the Hollywood couple.

Delbert Shaw has filed a $25,000 lawsuit against the stars, claiming they hurled threats at him while he photographed them during a vacation in Hawaii in December 2010.

He also alleges the former Beverly Hills, 90210 star tussled with him before throwing his iPhone in the sea.

In court on Tuesday (15Jan13), Shaw's lawyer Sark Ohanian objected to the $620 financial penalty, but the judge sided with Fox and Green.

According to E! News, Ohanian argued, "They are trying to paint my client as a reckless paparazzo and none of the discovery is focused on the incident. We haven't been trying to hide the ball on anything."

The case is still being fought but the couple has asked the judge to dismiss Shaw's lawsuit, which they maintain is "without merit and... premised on a tissue of misrepresentations and half-truths".

The paparazzo is suing for alleged assault and battery, infliction of emotional distress, conversion, false imprisonment, conspiracy and negligence.