First Amendment
Judge Refuses Kidd Accuser’s Request for Anonymity
Posted Feb 29, 2008, 07:32 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A federal judge has refused to allow an aspiring model to shield her identity in her sexual battery suit against basketball player Jason Kidd.
Judge Carol Edmead ruled that the plaintiff’s desire to avoid embarrassment isn’t enough to overcome the public’s right of access to judicial proceedings, the New York Law Journal reports. The judge noted that the Manhattan district attorney has declined to prosecute. In this case, "the scale tips in favor of disclosure," the judge said.
The suit claims Kidd groped her at a Manhattan nightclub. Edmead ordered the plaintiff to revise her complaint and substitute her real name.
Kidd was recently traded to the Dallas Mavericks from the New Jersey Nets. His lawyer, Paul Grand, said in a statement that the ruling “is further indication that Jason Kidd did not do anything wrong."