New attorney says DNA points to Rodman as attacker

Deepa Bharath

Preliminary lab tests reveal that the DNA on the clothes of a

woman who accused Dennis Rodman of raping her could well belong to

the former NBA superstar, her attorneys said Monday.

Tina New, a former actress and aspiring model, filed a $10-million

civil lawsuit against Rodman in August 2000. She claims that on the

evening of Aug. 20, 1999, Rodman forcibly took her to his Seashore

Drive home, where he drugged and raped her.

The former Chicago Bull and Los Angeles Laker grabbed her “by her

hips and legs, ripped [her] clothing off and began physically

throwing her around,” she has said.

Rodman has not only denied the allegation repeatedly, but has said

under oath that he had never met New.

“I’m going to state on the record that I don’t know Tina New,” he

had said during a deposition. “I’ve never seen this woman ... The

only time I ever seen this girl is on TV. That’s it.”

New’s civil case is set to begin in February.

Rodman agreed to give New’s attorneys a DNA sample to carry out

the testing. New’s attorneys, Eric Traut and Stephen Tornay, had a

saliva sample taken from Rodman a few weeks ago.

“The results show that there is a one in 10,000 chance that it

wasn’t Rodman,” said Traut, lead attorney on the case. “Which in

simple terms, means there is a very, very good chance he did it.”

Traut said the final tests will stack up much more dramatic odds

against Rodman.

“The person who is doing the testing tells me that he has never

seen such decisive preliminary results change later,” he said.

Neither Rodman nor his attorney, John McKay, were available for

comment Monday.

No criminal charges were ever filed based on New’s complaint.

Newport Beach police had said a 10-day delay in reporting the alleged

crime made it impossible for police to collect physical evidence.

Traut said he hopes to file the test results with the Orange County

district attorney to facilitate a criminal prosecution.

“It’s unfortunate that Newport Beach police did not analyze [the

DNA samples] better,” he said.

Newport Beach police did an “in depth investigation” into New’s

complaint, Sgt. Steve Shulman said Monday.

“But at this point we don’t know what was analyzed, how it was

analyzed or to what extent it was analyzed,” he said. “We need to

review several reports before we can comment on this matter.”

The civil trial comes in the wake of Rodman’s arrest Friday on a

domestic violence charge. Police say the district attorney will

likely charge Rodman with spousal abuse for allegedly beating his

girlfriend. He was released Friday after posting $25,000 bail.

New’s civil case will be heard at the Orange County Superior Court

in Santa Ana on Feb. 10. Rodman has not appeared so far for any of

the settlement conferences mandated by law. He will be required to

attend the hearing next month.

A court-appointed arbitrator awarded New $225,000 in July 2001,

but Rodman rejected that decision, sending the case to trial.

Rodman’s attorney came up with a separate undisclosed settlement

amount last February, but New said that it was “insulting.”

New grabbed national headlines as the star witness in the trial of

Eric Bechler, the 34-year-old Newport Heights resident now in prison

for murdering his wife during a boating trip off the Newport Beach

coast. New helped investigators by wearing a recording device and

getting a near-confession on tape.

New said she is thrilled by the latest findings.

“To me, it’s not at all about getting money out of him,” she said

Monday. “It’s about the fact that he did it, and now it looks like I

may actually have proof.”