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Former mistress who accused Newton of rape files suit

DALLAS (AP) -- Having been cleared by a Dallas County grand jury, Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Nate Newton now has been sued by a former mistress who accused him previously of rape.

Tina Hill, 31, of Grand Prairie, filed the lawsuit in Denton County, where Newton lives. She alleges Newton raped her in her mobile home on June 15th, and is suing for unspecified damages.

A grand jury in neighboring Dallas County voted on Sept. 2 not to indict Newton on a sexual assault charge.

Ms. Hill accused Newton of raping her in her Grand Prairie mobile home on June 15. She did not file a complaint with Grand Prairie police until July 8.

The lawsuit was filed last week. Newton was served with the documents Wednesday. A plaintiff may sue a defendant in the defendant's home county.

Ms. Hill and Newton have confirmed they had a relationship that Newton's attorney, Howard Shapiro of Plano, said lasted 15 months.

Shapiro has said the woman falsely cried rape after an evening of consentual sex in an attempt to extort money -- anywhere from $80,000 to $650,000 -- from his client.

Newton said after the grand jury's decision that he had "made a mistake" by having an affair with his accuser.

"He was no-billed by the grand jury, and it doesn't take a lot of evidence to get true-billed," he said. "I would submit that it's a lesser burden (of evidence) than what you need in civil court. ... We believe she's just trying to squeeze him for money."

Norm Kinne, Dallas County's top assistant district attorney, has said Ms. Hill's credibility before the grand jury was harmed by her monetary demands from Newton before going to police.

Brian McDonald, the attorney representing the woman, said the civil jury will have to come to its own conclusions, independent of what the grand jury decided.

"We just want the jury to hear our case and we really aren't going to do much talking to anyone else," McDonald said.