NFL players deny rape claim in LV lawsuit

Mathis Winkler

Friday, Dec. 21, 2001 | 9:58 a.m.

A Washington state woman filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing three NFL players and a former player of drugging and raping her during a trip to Las Vegas in May 2000.

Lisa Harden, 35, is seeking at least $80,000 in damages from Detroit Lions quarterback Charlie Batch and Lions safety Ron Rice, former Lions defensive back Tyree Talton and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Dedric Ward, according to the lawsuit filed at Clark County District Court on Thursday.

"I vehemently deny the allegations," Batch said in a statement. "The police investigated in May 2000 and found nothing illegal took place. These accusations are just another example of how success in sports makes someone a target."

A man who answered at Talton's home said the former player did not have any comment, although published reports quote Talton as denying the allegations. The other two men were not immediately available for comment.

Both Lions and NFL officials said they were looking into the accusations.

Metro Police Detectives interviewed several people while investigating the case, including three of the four football players, said Lt. Jeff Carlson of Metro's sexual assault/abuse unit.

The players contended the sexual contact was consensual, while the woman claimed it was not, Carlson said.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Doug Herndon, who heads the office's special victims unit, said he reviewed the evidence gathered by police and agreed with them that there was not enough to prosecute.

"Regardless of whether the crimes occurred, we didn't think we could meet the 'beyond a reasonable doubt' burden of proof," Herndon said, adding that he told police officials that the district attorney's office would not approve the case for prosecution.

According to the lawsuit, Harden was attending a friend's wedding at the Mandalay Bay on May 6, 2000, when she met Ward, Batch and Tolton at the casino's "rumjungle" bar.

There, the men allegedly invited her for a drink, which she claims was spiked with a "date rape" drug.

While Harden only partially remembers what occurred over the next four to six hours, she claims the men took her to Dedric's apartment in the 10100 block of West Spring Mountain Road, where they raped her.

According to Harden, Ward then dropped off the group back at the casino on his way to the airport. Batch, Tolton and Rice then again allegedly raped her repeatedly in a hotel room.

Her Las Vegas attorney, John Lukens, said his client remembers begging Tolton to stop hurting her.

Afterward, Harden went looking for her friends and eventually returned to her room, according to the lawsuit.

She reported the incident the next day after she returned home to Seattle and went to an emergency room. Lukens noted that because of the delay, some evidence, such as any trace of the date-rape drug, was gone. But he said that DNA evidence existed that could link more than one man to the incident. He wouldn't specify what the evidence is.

"We fully anticipate that (the men's) defense will be that it was a consensual act," said Lukens, adding that he tried to contact the men but got no response. "But we believe it's going to be quite evident that this was not consensual."

Lukens, who formerly headed the Crimes Against Women and Children Unit in the Clark County district attorney's office, said Harden decided to file the lawsuit now because she feels "quite strongly that what happened to her was wrong."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.