A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has thrown out a request for a restraining order against current L.A. Dodgers and former Hart High School pitcher Trevor Bauer after the woman alleged the professional athlete raped her earlier this year.
The Associated Press reported that, while reading her decision, Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman said that when examining a sexual encounter, and a woman says no, “she should be believed, so what should we do when she says yes?”
In the restraining order filed by the woman with Los Angeles County Superior Court, she alleged that, without her permission, Bauer had put his fingers down her throat, strangled her by wrapping her own hair around her neck to the point she went unconscious, and repeatedly punched her in the face and body.
She also said that he had initiated anal sex with her while she was unconscious and without her permission, causing her to bleed and not be able to properly walk in the aftermath.
The encounters, she said, took place on two separate occasions, with the second involving punching and scratching, along with violent acts that had taken place during the first encounter. In both instances, the plaintiff alleges the sexual encounters had been consensual at first — she had driven up from her home in San Diego to meet with him both times after the two had first started talking via social media and had lengthy conversations about baseball and personal matters.
Bauer and his lawyers have maintained his innocence since the allegations first came to light in June, saying that they had proof that the woman asked for “‘rough’ sexual encounters involving requests to be ‘choked out’ and slapped in the face.” They said in each of the instances, Bauer had the woman’s consent.
A statement obtained by The Signal on Thursday from Bauer’s attorneys, Shawn Holley and Jon Fetterolf, read that they were appreciative of the judge’s ruling.
“We are grateful to the Los Angeles Superior Court for denying the request for a permanent restraining order and dissolving the temporary restraining order against Mr. Bauer today,” Bauer’s legal team said in the statement. “While we have expected this outcome since the petition was filed in June, we appreciate the court reviewing all relevant information and testimony to make this informed decision.”
The woman’s allegations have prompted investigations by the Pasadena Police Department and Major League Baseball, which placed him on administrative leave pending completion of the investigations. No announcements had been made as of Thursday regarding any outcome of those investigations.
