Plaintiff stands by sex assault claims against Charlotte Hornets owner

Judge Costa Pleicones refused to admit what defense attorney Bill Diehl called an extortion letter from Leslie Price to George Shinn.(Court TV)

				Shinn Sexual Assault Civil Trial
				Who do you believe? Discuss on our message board Background Dec. 17 - Verdict Sept. 14 Update (Mistrial) Shinn Profile Dec. 7 Openings Dec. 7 Update (Shinn testifies) Dec. 8 Update (Shinn's testimony continues) Dec. 9 Update (Morning) Dec. 9 Update (Evening) Dec. 10 Update (Price testifies) Dec. 11 Update (Price's testimony continues) Dec. 13 Update (Price's testimony continues) Dec. 14 Update (Plaintiff rests) Dec. 14 Update Dec. 15 Update (Morning) Dec. 15 Update (Evening) Dec. 16 Update (Morning) Dec. 16 Update (Evening) Dec. 17 Update (Closing Arguments)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Court TV) — Despite admitting that she once lied about her sex life to investigators, plaintiff Leslie Price insisted Saturday that Charlotte Hornets owner George Shinn sexually assaulted her and that their tryst was not consensual.

Price returned to the stand for further cross-examination in her civil suit against Shinn. In the suit, Price claims that Shinn lured her to his lake house in September 1997 and forced himself upon her. At the time, Price was in an outpatient treatment program for an addiction to prescription drugs at the Amethyst center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Price met Shinn through his nephew, a fellow patient.

Shinn, the plaintiff says, promised to help her find legal assistance for her child custody battle and led her to believe that a meeting with a lawyer — Shinn's trial lawyer Bill Diehl — was going to take place at his home. But Shinn, Price alleges, attacked her in his bedroom. Investigators, however, did not find enough evidence to bring criminal charges against Shinn.

Shinn admits that he and Price had a sexual encounter but claims it was consensual. His defense has suggested that Price was afraid of being left with nothing after her separation from her then-estranged husband and that she sees the suit as a way of extorting money from Shinn. [Price and her husband have since reconciled.]

On Saturday, Diehl ran into several roadblocks as he tried to suggest Price is an extortionist. Judge Costa Pleicones refused to admit what Diehl called an extortion letter from Price to Shinn. Five days after reporting the alleged assault to police, one of Price's lawyers, David Bland, sent a letter to Shinn and Diehl offering to drop criminal and civil charges in exchange for $5 million.

When Shinn and Diehl did not respond to the request, Bland withdrew the proposal. Bland has insisted that the letter was not an extortion but an attempt to settle the case at Diehl's request. He has claimed that Diehl told him at the time that there was a "small window of opportunity" to end the dispute and requested a proposal in writing.

Diehl has admitted making the "window of opportunity" remark to Bland, but insists that he was not looking for a settlement. He said he was trying to convince Price to drop her false accusations at the time before the case attracted publicity. Judge Pleicones, however, sided with the plaintiff and was convinced the letter — and the $5 million request — was only an attempt at a settlement.

Unable to pursue his extortion argument, Diehl confronted Price over alleged inconsistencies in various statements about her encounter with Shinn. He focused on Price's allegations that Shinn began groping her in his BMW on the way to the meeting at his Tega Cay home.

"That's what you want the jury to believe?" Diehl asked.

"It's not that I want anybody to believe it," Price said. "I'm telling the truth as I have since that day."

Still, Diehl pointed out, Price stayed in the car after the alleged groping and proceeded to accompany Shinn to his house — where she would alleged be assaulted. Under direct examination from her attorney Friday, Price said she was in shock and that Shinn did begin acting "normal" after she protested. In addition, Price insisted, she was intimidated by Shinn's power and fame. Nonetheless, Diehl persisted and asked Price why she stayed in the car if the groping occurred.

"Because he [Shinn] had the ability to grab anything, break the window and bust my head in," a tearful Price said.

Diehl also asked Price about an FBI interview where she allegedly told investigators she never gave consent to Shinn for oral sex but agreed to perform it under duress. Choking back tears, Price denied making the statement.

During cross, Diehl had Price admit once again that she initially lied to investigators about her sexual relationship with fellow drug center patient Michael Angelette because she was still worried about her child custody battle. She initially told them that she had not had sex with Angelette. Diehl then argued that Price also had lied under oath during pretrial deposition when she claimed she had never performed oral sex on her husband. The attorney suggested that if Price could lie about her sex life then, she could be lying now.

Last week, jurors saw the videotaped deposition of Charlotte Hornets cheerleader, Debbie Cadell, who claimed Shinn forced her to participate in a sexual relationship for two years. Judge Pleicones has yet to rule on whether jurors will hear from a third woman — Jane Doe #3 — who claims Shinn made unwanted advances towards her.

Price may return to the stand Monday.

— Bryan Robinson