C.A.
governor won't investigate allegations
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
has abandoned a pledge to investigate claims
that he groped women, arguing any probe
would be used as political fodder, his spokesman
said.
''Upon
consulting with legal counsel and advisers,
the governor has concluded that, given the
political nature of the allegations, an
investigation would only be ridiculed by
his political opponents and provide little
opportunity to put this issue to rest,''
spokesman Rob Stutzman said.
Stutzman
announced on Nov. 6 -- after the October
recall election but before Schwarzenegger
took office -- that the governor-elect ''had
already decided to engage a well-respected
investigative firm to look into the allegations.''
But
Stutzman said Monday that ''the time has
come once and for all to put this issue
behind us.''
He
noted that no criminal investigation is
underway into the harassment allegations.
''(Schwarzenegger)
remains sincerely sorry to anyone he may
have offended, but there comes a time to
move on and focus on the critical issues
facing the state,'' Stutzman said.
Five days before the election, the Los Angeles
Times detailed allegations from six women
who said Schwarzenegger groped or sexually
harassed them between 1975 and 2000. By
the Oct. 7 election, the number had grown
to 16.
Schwarzenegger
apologized for having ''behaved badly''
toward women in the past but refused to
discuss the allegations in detail until
after he was elected. He told ''Dateline
NBC'' on Oct. 5 that after the campaign,
''I can get into all of the specifics and
find out what is really going on.''
Attorney
General Bill Lockyer called for a full investigation
last month. But spokesman Nathan Barankin
said Monday that no criminal investigation
is possible because the statute of limitations
for prosecuting the alleged crimes had expired.
''We
don't have anything to add,'' Barankin said.
''He made his decision and that's it.''
The
announcement that Schwarzenegger would not
pursue his own investigation came hours
after a woman who claimed she was groped
a decade ago sued the governor and his campaign
spokesman for libel.
Rhonda
Miller's Superior Court suit, which seeks
unspecified damages, alleges that Sean Walsh
tried to ruin her reputation by falsely
suggesting in an e-mail that she was a convicted
felon.
Miller
made the groping allegations in a news conference
on Oct. 7 -- the day before the California
gubernatorial recall election -- with well-known
attorney Gloria Allred by her side.
She said Schwarzenegger lifted her shirt
to photograph her breasts and groped her
twice when she worked as a stunt double
on the film ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day''
in 1991 and in 1994 on the set of ''True
Lies.''
The
actor denied the allegations.
Within
hours of Miller's news conference, Walsh
sent an e-mail to several reporters directing
them to the Los Angeles Superior Court Web
site and instructing them to type in the
name ''Rhonda Miller.''
The
search turned up a Rhonda Miller with a
long criminal history that included prostitution,
forgery and drug selling. But that woman
had a different birth date.
Miller
said she has never been arrested and that
false information about her was broadcast
on national television reports.
Attorney
Paul Hoffman, who is representing Miller
and Allred in the libel lawsuit, contends
that the Schwarzenegger campaign deliberately
misled reporters in order to raise doubts
about her harassment allegations until the
election was over.
''They
destroyed her life for one day's advantage,''
Hoffman said.
Miller
said that since the e-mail, she has been
unable to get a job in the entertainment
industry.
Schwarzenegger
attorney Marty Singer called the libel suit
groundless and said he expected it to be
dismissed.
He
said Walsh's remarks about Miller's background
could have referred not to a criminal background,
but rather to statements from others who
worked on movie sets with her and Schwarzenegger.
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