The Dallas Cowboys' Michael Irvin may have been celebrating former UM 'Cane-dom last night at a private screening of "The U" at Lincoln Road's Colony Theater, but the civil lawsuit filed yesterday against him will certainly be no party for the football star.
The woman, referred to in the suit as Jane Doe, claims Irvin raped her at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in July of 2007 after buying her drinks and then luring her to a hotel room.
She claims that when they arrived, Irvin and another man tried to stuff money down her clothes. When she refused to perform sexual favors, the unidentified man held her down, at which point Irvin raped her. She was then forced to perform oral sex on the unidentified man.
The incident was reported to the Seminole police and the matter was "investigated thoroughly," Seminole Tribe spokesperson Gary Bitner told the Miami Herald. ``Although by that time there was no longer any forensic evidence or surveillance video.''
The woman signed a waiver of prosecution to, according to Bitner, put the incident behind her, and her lawyer, David Lister, and Irvin's legal counsel, were in talks over a monetary settlement.
While Lister claims the lawsuit was prompted by the talks stalling, Irvin's attorney, Larry Friedman, says the talks were simply an attempt at extortion.
Friedman told the Herald that first the woman wanted $1 million, then came down to $800,000.
"There is no merit to this complaint," Friedman said.
Irvin was accused of a sexual crime over a decade ago as well, but the woman eventually recanted her story.
