Settlement reached in Rodman, New case

Deepa Bharath

Dennis Rodman has reached a settlement with a woman who accused

him of raping her at his West Newport home more than two years ago,

attorneys said Monday.

Terms of the agreement, which was reached after several attempts

to settle and on the brink of a civil trial, were kept confidential.

Last week, the trial that was scheduled to begin Monday was postponed

to April 14.

Tina New, a former actress and aspiring model, filed a $10-million

civil lawsuit against Rodman in August 2000. She claimed that on the

evening of Aug. 20, 1999, Rodman forcibly took her to his Seashore

Drive home, where he drugged and raped her.

New said she did not file a lawsuit for financial gain. But, she

added, she did not know which way a verdict would go and feared that

her own life would be put under the microscope.

“I felt like I was the one going on trial,” she said. “[The

attorneys] were going to rake up my past, drug abuse, mistakes I’ve

made in the past. Sure, I made mistakes. I admit it. But it doesn’t

change what [Rodman] did to me.”

New’s attorneys announced last month that preliminary lab tests

revealed the DNA on New’s clothes could well belong to the former NBA

superstar. New said in her lawsuit that Rodman grabbed her by her

hips and legs, ripped her clothing off and began physically throwing

her around.

Rodman was not available for comment on Monday, but he has

repeatedly denied the allegation and has said under oath that he had

never met New.

“I’m going to state on the record that I don’t know Tina New,” he

had said during a deposition. “I’ve never seen this woman. ... The

only time I’ve ever seen this girl is on TV. That’s it.”

Rodman’s attorney, Paul Meyer, and New’s attorney, Eric Traut,

said they were “satisfied” with the settlement.

New said she decided to settle because she was “sick of it all.”

“The saddest thing for me is, as a victim, I have to prove that

I’m a good enough person who doesn’t deserve to get raped,” she said.

New grabbed national headlines as the star witness in the trial of

Eric Bechler, the 34-year-old Newport Heights resident now in prison

for murdering his wife during a boating trip off Newport Beach. She

told an Orange County jury that Bechler confessed to her after a

night of partying and taking the drug Ecstasy.

No criminal charges were ever filed based on New’s complaint

against Rodman. Newport Beach police had said a 10-day delay in

filing a report made it impossible to collect physical evidence.

A court-appointed arbitrator awarded New $225,000 in July 2001,

but Rodman rejected that decision, sending the case to trial.

Rodman’s attorney came up with a separate undisclosed settlement

amount last February, but New said that it was “insulting.”

The end of this civil case does not mean the end of court

appearances for Rodman. On Jan. 10, Rodman was arrested on a domestic

violence charge on suspicion of assaulting his live-in girlfriend. He

was released on $25,000 bail. The Orange County district attorney has

not filed charges in that case. But Newport Beach Police say they

have recommended that charges be filed.

Rodman faces a civil lawsuit filed by Jo Len A. McGowen, another

woman who has alleged that Rodman drugged her and forcibly raped her

several times on March 3, 2001, at his home after a night at Josh

Slocum’s, a Mariners Mile restaurant he manages.

A hearing on that case is scheduled for Thursday.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].