Saturday, January 11, 1997

Charges, lawsuits could be next for Cowboys' accuser

By JAIME ARON / AP Sports Writer (Jan. 11, 1997)

DALLAS (AP) - Erik Williams may sue the former topless dancer who lied when she accused him of raping her while Dallas Cowboys teammate Michael Irvin held a gun to her head, Williams' lawyer said Saturday.

"It was clearly a set-up," lawyer Peter Ginsberg said. "The task that remains is determining who set whom up, the motives for doing that and whether the police were innocently used or more egregiously involved."

Nina Shahravan, 23, filed a police report Dec. 30 accusing Williams and a third man who was never identified of raping her in Williams' home the night before as Irvin videotaped parts of the encounter and held a gun to her head.

On Friday, police dropped the investigation after having "determined conclusively that the allegations are not true and that a sexual assault did not take place."

Williams and Irvin denied the allegations from the start and were never charged.

Police said they were considering charges of filing a false police report against Shahravan. No action had been taken by Saturday afternoon. If convicted, she could face up to six months in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Shahravan declined to comment as she left police headquarters Friday afternoon. Later, someone at her Mesquite home would not open the door to reporters.

A message left Saturday at her parents' home in Plano was not immediately returned.

Ginsberg said Shahravan recanted the allegations after police presented her with evidence there was no sexual attack and Irvin was not at Williams' home that night. A police source confirmed to The Associated Press that Shahravan signed a confession admitting the hoax.

Shahravan's estranged husband, Hooman Baghestani, said publicly during the investigation that he doubted her story.

He said she had falsely accused him and a previous fiance of sexual assault. No charges were ever filed against either man.

"I wasn't surprised as far as the outcome, but I am surprised that she came out and admitted to lying," Baghestani said Saturday, referring to her recantation.

Shahravan alleged the sexual assault occurred hours after the Cowboys, the NFL's defending champions, won a playoff game.

The accusation cast a dark cloud over the team's preparation for the next game, which turned out to be a 26-17 loss last weekend to the Carolina Panthers, eliminating the Cowboys from the playoffs.

Irvin urged reporters Friday to give as much attention to the end of the case as they did when the accusations were made.

"Rerun it, rewrite it, reprint it," he said. "Just like you did, with the same intensity that you did - the same intensity. Don't lose the intensity. Don't lose the intensity."

His lawyer, Royce West, criticized media coverage for being "so overwhelming that young women may very well get in their minds a situation or a project, if you will, to make some fast money."

Ginsberg said he expects police to investigate whether Shahravan was "in cahoots with anyone else ... who may have helped manipulate the situation."

West, while not saying whether Irvin planned to sue Shahravan, said anyone who makes up a story about his client in the future would wind up in court.

"Whomever decides to bring false accusations against Mr. Irvin again can expect us to retaliate in terms of using the legal system in order to seek restitution for damages done," West said.

Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple, in a statement on behalf of Dallas organization, said, "We are pleased that there is now closure to this situation. As we said from the outset, this was a matter that was to be handled by the proper authorities. That is what has taken place."

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones did not immediately return a telephone message left at his home by the AP.

Williams and Irvin have both had past run-ins with the law. Williams was accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl, but a grand jury in 1995 refused to indict him, citing insufficient evidence. The girl reached a civil settlement with Williams and asked that he not be prosecuted.

Irvin is in the first year of a four-year probation for felony cocaine possession.

Ginsberg said he still needs to confer with Williams about whether he wants to sue Shahravan.

"On one hand, he's a private person who wants peace and quiet. But on the other hand, he's clearly been aggrieved by the woman and by a police department which had him convicted before it fully investigated the accusations."