Wizards' Howard moves ahead with lawsuit against accuser
Posted: Friday September 18, 1998 07:59 PM
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Howard remains committed to clearing his name CNN/SI |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Juwan Howard
wants to clear any lingering doubts about his character, so the Washington Wizards
forward is moving ahead with a lawsuit against a Connecticut woman who
falsely accused him and former teammate Chris Webber of
sexually assaulting her, an attorney said Friday.
"Howard is not interested in money. He wants the good name and
reputation he's had for most of his life restored," said Mitchell
Rubenstein, the attorney representing Howard in the action filed last June.
The lawsuit filed in Montgomery County, Maryland, seeks $20 million in
damages.
"Any individual that has been falsely accused of a crime such as this
one can assume that it has damaged his reputation and value as a marketable
celebrity," said Rubenstein. Howard has not lost any endorsement contracts
since Melissa Reed, 25, claimed she was sexually assaulted at a party at
Howard's suburban Maryland home on April 6.
Howard and Webber, who has since been traded to the Sacramento Kings, denied
any wrongdoing and after hearing testimony from Reed and many of the 40
people who attended the party, a Montgomery County grand jury returned no
indictments.
Efforts to reach Reed's lawyer, Ned Collier, were unsuccessful.
Rubenstein is seeking a summary judgment against Reed at a November 12
court hearing. "Her failure to respond is an indication that the initial
allegations were completely false," he said.
Following the grand jury meeting, Collier said his client testified
that she went to a room with Webber and was struck, cutting her lip, then
restrained by one of four people present in the room before being sexually
assaulted. Rubenstein says that Howard remains committed to
clearing his name, and wants to continue with the action although monetary
damages may be difficult to recover.
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