Updated Feb. 23: A Georgia judge denied former NBA center Dwight Howard’s attempt to dismiss a sexual assault and battery lawsuit filed against him, according to a filing obtained by ESPN.
“My comment, at this time, is that we are glad the court denied Mr. Howard’s motion and look forward to proving our client’s case,” attorney Olga Izmaylova, who represents accuser Stephen Harper, said to ESPN.
Harper accused Howard of sexually assaulting him during a July 2021 meeting at Howard’s residence in Georgia. Howard’s attorney has repeatedly alleged that the encounter, which was said to involve a third person, was consensual.
The case is still in the discovery phase. No trial has been scheduled at present.
“Justice will prevail and we fully trust in our justice system and the process,” Justin Bailey, one of Howard’s attorneys, told ESPN. “This order is a part of the process. We will engage in discovery and will further prove our case and when the time is right we will let our future pleadings speak for themselves.”
In addition to the denial of the motion to dismiss, the Gwinnett County judge also ruled to seal an exhibit filed in December 2023 that Howard’s defense team argued was embarrassing, sexually explicit texts, according to ESPN.
Former NBA star Dwight Howard is asking for the bombshell lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault and battery to be dismissed.
Howard’s attorneys claim that the encounter between their client and Stephen Harper engaged in a consensual encounter involving a third person at Howard’s Georgia residence in July 2021, according to a Thursday filing that was obtained by ESPN.
Harper filed a lawsuit in July alleging that Howard and Harper began corresponding via Instagram direct messages, with Harper initiating the exchange. Harper accused Howard of sexually assaulting him at the latter’s home during the subsequent July 2021 encounter.
In the original filing, Harper included alleged screenshots of messages exchanged between Harper and Howard from 2021, along with an Uber receipt to Howard’s house on the night of the incident.
Howard denied the allegations in October, asking the case to be dismissed.
Howard’s attorneys allege that key text messages were deleted and not present in Harper’s initial complaint. The filing, according to ESPN, contains those new messages along with several that Howard’s attorneys claim are doctored.
“In short, the totality of the text messages between Mr. Howard and Mr. Harper make it abundantly clear that Mr. Harper’s claims are frivolous, that he was a willing participant in the events of July 19, 2021, and the early morning hours of July 20, 2021, and that the touching of his person had been invited by him,” Howard’s attorneys write in Thursday’s filing.
“More importantly, the explicit messages not only show consent but also that Mr. Harper was initiating some of the sexual contact. Mr. Harper not only invited the initial experience, but tried to initiate a second encounter because the first was so enjoyable. As it is undisputed that Mr. Harper consented to the touching between him and Mr. Howard, Mr. Harper’s claims necessarily fail, and Mr. Howard is entitled to summary judgment as the clear consent negates the essential element of intent and the claims of Assault, Battery, False Imprisonment, and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress fall like a house of cards.”
Harper’s lawyers didn’t immediately respond to ESPN’s request for comment.
Howard’s attorneys now claim, per the Thursday filing, that the incident is “nothing more than a classic case of unrequited love. After one consensual event together, Mr. Howard was no longer interested in keeping Mr. Harper’s company.”
The filing also alleges that Howard received multiple demands for payment, each from different legal representatives over the course of a year.
The 38-year-old Howard has long been dogged by rumors regarding his sexuality.
