Trevor Bauer accuser fights pitcher’s subpoena seeking her phone records
The woman who unsuccessfully sought a restraining order against Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer has asked a court to assess $10,000 in sanctions against him and his lawyers for pursuing legal action her attorney claimed “suggests that Mr. Bauer is indeed looking for a way to continue harassing and disturbing†the woman.
On Feb. 7, the day before the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said it would not file criminal charges against Bauer for sexual assault, Bauer’s attorneys served a subpoena on the Pasadena Police Department seeking all of the woman’s cellphone records. In a court filing this week, attorneys for the woman asked an L.A. County Superior Court judge to throw out the subpoena.
A hearing is set for April 4.
The L.A. County D.A. declined to charge Trevor Bauer with sexual assault, but Major League Baseball could still suspend the Dodgers pitcher.
That date is four days after the start of the Major League Baseball season, provided owners and players reach a new collective bargaining agreement in time to preserve the current schedule. Representatives for Bauer and the league declined to comment Saturday on how the timing of the hearing might affect MLB’s disciplinary process.
The league has the right to suspend a player for violating its sexual assault policy, even if the player is not charged with a crime. Bauer has yet to meet with MLB investigators, and information from the phone records could theoretically help him make the case that he did nothing wrong and should not be suspended.
In a letter included in the latest filing, the Pasadena city attorney’s office asked Bauer’s attorneys to withdraw the subpoena, arguing in part that publicity surrounding the Bauer case could mean “future victims of sexual abuse may be dissuaded from reporting abuse†if the subject of an investigation and the public could access personal records “even outside of a civil or criminal trial.â€
In response, Bauer attorney Shawn Holley wrote: “There is no public interest in shielding those who make materially misleading complaints from disclosure of information that exculpates the alleged perpetrator.†In her ruling, the judge who rejected the restraining order said the woman had made “materially misleading†statements.
Trevor Bauer won’t face criminal charges over sexual assault accusations. The Dodgers must leave no doubt he’s not welcome to return anyway.
A previous court filing by Bauer claimed he intended to use the phone records in asking that the woman be ordered to pay the fees of his attorneys, arguing the woman misused the restraining order process to “gain publicity and harm [Bauer’s] career†and “deliberately and systematically deleted and hid much information … including communications with her closest friends that revealed her improper motive.â€
Bauer’s legal team submitted a court filing stating its intention to seek legal fees, but it has yet to file a motion formally seeking the fees.
Lisa Helfend Meyer, the attorney for the woman, claimed the sanctions would reflect what she called “misuse of the discovery process†in a restraining order case that ended six months ago. She argued Bauer has not filed a motion for attorney fees and whatever the phone records might show “is not germane to any analysis of whether he would be entitled to any fees via a motion that does not exist.â€
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