Nelly rape accuser says rapper is trying to intimidate her
The woman who accused rapper Nelly of rape says his lawyer has sent an intimidating letter to prosecutors, calling the alleged victim "a person with an agenda," which was "money, fame and notoriety." Credit: BUCK/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
The woman accusing rapper Nelly of having raped her Saturday in Auburn, Washington, now says he has demeaned her in a letter his legal team sent to prosecutors.
In a letter in reply, the woman’s attorney, Karen Koehler, told prosecutors: “It is morally reprehensible for an accused person and his bully lawyer to issue derogatory and defamatory statements against a young alleged rape victim,” according to TMZ.com
Koehler, of the Seattle firm Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Koehler Moore Kahler, added, “It is also criminal — in the State of Washington — when those vicious attacks are issued in the form of threats.” Among the statements the attorney considers witness intimidation, which is a felony in the state, is Nelly’s attorney calling the accuser “a person with an agenda . . . The agenda is money, fame and notoriety.”
Nelly’s attorney, Scott Rosenblum, responded to TMZ: “I would suggest rereading the statute” involving witness intimidation. “I would further suggest talking to some of the unbiased witnesses.” He added, “Nelly will continue to respond to her client’s baseless allegations.”
The attack allegedly happened early Saturday in Nelly’s tour bus, parked outside a Walmart store in Auburn following the rapper’s concert Friday at the White River Amphitheater.
Grammy Award-winner Nelly, born Cornell Haynes Jr., was booked and released Saturday without charges being filed. Steve Stocker, the Auburn police commander, told The Associated Press that the hip-hop star would appear before a judge “at some point.”
Rosenblum has denied the allegations. Nelly, 42, tweeted Saturday, “I am completely innocent. I am confident that once the facts are looked at, it will be very clear that I am the victim of a false allegation,”
After missing his scheduled concert Saturday at the Sunlight Supply Amphitheater in Ridgefield, Washington, he was set to continue his tour with country duo Florida Georgia line Thursday at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena in Florida.
