Friday, Nov. 10, 2006 | 6:55 a.m.
Few people other than Gov.-elect Jim Gibbons want the Chrissy Mazzeo story to go away more than I.
The grotesquerie of the Friday the 13th incident has not captivated me as it has so many. But because Mazzeo reached out to me this week, and because Metro continues to probe the case against the new governor, I cannot yet put it behind me.
Mazzeo's brother-in-law, Tim Killian, contacted me to let me know Mazzeo wanted to chat. So I called her, and she said she merely wanted to thank me for my fair coverage. But I kept her on the phone long enough to learn:
Mazzeo said the "most important thing is moving on," but that she has no choice but to pursue the criminal charges "to prove my innocence when someone is calling you a liar. For someone like that to be our governor ..."
Because she has no interest in money, Mazzeo insisted, "What would I have to gain? I have nothing to gain."
If indeed she will not pursue a cash settlement from the man she has accused of assaulting her in a garage near McCormick & Schmick's, it would seem she is either telling the truth (or mostly the truth) or she is seriously disturbed. The theory by some that she is a political pawn being used by Dina Titus supporters, including her attorneys, seems ludicrous to me.
So did she use some hyperbole? "Not an ounce," she declared. "I exaggerated nothing."
Mazzeo also sounded confident during the interview that she will be vindicated. "The truth always prevails," she said, either optimistically or naively or, perhaps, disingenuously. "The only thing that has held me through this is my faith in God."
Mazzeo also raised questions about the validity of the tapes, insisting that there should be more evidence of the rainy night on the floor of the parking garage. But her lead lawyer, Rick Wright, does not believe anyone associated with Gibbons or Metro would doctor the tapes. Wright posits, however, that if Mazzeo is not on the tapes that the incident occurred somewhere the cameras do not cover.
Wright, who is not a guy who ordinarily lets his clients talk to the media, was not happy to learn Mazzeo had talked to me. But it's clear the veteran lawyer believes her story - and I guarantee he has represented clients who he knew were not telling the truth or all of the truth.
Wright has given Metro Police the names of two friends whom Mazzeo called on Friday the 13th and talked to them about the incident with Gibbons. Their numbers are on Mazzeo's cell phone records and Metro surely will talk to them.
My guess is that Metro also has interviewed - or will interview - Killian, who also talked to Mazzeo on Friday the 13th. "I completely, absolutely believe her," he said of his sister-in-law, whom he has known for 16 years. "I have never in my life heard her like that."
As for any implication that this is politically motivated, Killian said, "She doesn't even know what a Republican or Democrat is."
The interesting question here is what does the district attorney's office do in a case if no corroborative evidence exists - assuming the tapes show nothing - and if their interviews with Mazzeo's family and friends show she told them the same story that night as she told the cops? Will it be treated the same way as if the accused were not the governor-elect?
That's a question Chrissy Mazzeo might ask seriously. But I won't.
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