LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia man dropped his lawsuit accusing former NBA star Dwight Howard of sexual assault after attorneys for Howard alleged the man deleted text messages showing their encounter was consensual.
Stephen Harper dismissed the case in a filing in Gwinnett County court on Tuesday. The dismissal was with prejudice, meaning he cannot refile the lawsuit.
The filing did not provide any explanation for the dismissal. Harper’s attorneys, Olga Izmaylova and Sadeer Sabbak, did not immediately return phone and email messages on Thursday.
Justin Bailey, an attorney for Howard, said his client did not pay Harper or reach any other type of settlement with him. He said Howard did not want to comment on the dismissal.
Bailey referred to court documents he filed in July accusing Harper of deleting text messages and presenting a false record of his conversations with Howard about the 2021 sexual encounter at Howard’s Georgia home. Howard’s attorneys said the missing messages showed that Harper consented to the encounter and planned to “expose” Howard after Howard stopped responding to his advances.
The filing sought sanctions against Harper and his attorneys, including payment of Howard’s attorney costs.
Gwinnett County police have said Harper filed a police report nearly a year after the encounter, but then did not meet with a detective despite repeated attempts to schedule an interview.
2024-12-24 10:061240 view
2024-12-24 09:511745 view
2024-12-24 08:472690 view
2024-12-24 08:451567 view
2024-12-24 08:421560 view
2024-12-24 08:422357 view
Rita Ora is honoring her friend Liam Payne‘s legacy.The 33-year-old singer remembered the singer, wh
HANGZHOU, China (AP) — The opening ceremony of the Asian Games on Saturday in China offered all the
NEW YORK (AP) — Daniel Pedro came to the U.S. from Angola five months ago. He works construction in