Law&Crime Sidebar - MLB Pitcher Releases Video of Accuser Smiling Hours After Alleged Sex Assault

Episode Date: September 16, 2022

Suspended MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer’s legal team released a video showing his accuser Lindsey Hill smiling hours after the alleged sex assault. Bauer’s lawyers asked a judge to dismiss Hill’s countersuit against Bauer, as he sues her for defamation saying her claims have already been found to be false. The Law&Crime Network’s Jesse Weber is joined by Law&Crime’s senior reporter Meghann Cuniff to discuss the case.GUEST:Meghann Cuniff: https://twitter.com/meghanncuniffLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergVideo Editing - Michael Deininger Guest Booking - Alyssa FisherSocial Media Management - Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaCoptales and CocktailsThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Now during the investigation, I've watched many draw premature conclusions based on an absurd amount of misinformation and false claims that have been circulated with absolutely no corroboration. Does a new video clear Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer of sexual assault allegations? Journalist Megan Cuniff comes on to discuss the latest. There is a major eruption in the case of MLB's Trevor Bauer that we want to talk about.

A little backstory here. The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher has been accused of sexual assault by a woman named Lindsay C. Hill. She actually obtained a temporary restraining against him. And while no charges, have been filed against him, the MLB did suspend Bauer for two seasons without pay this past April. The Bauer filed a lawsuit against Hill and her lawyer accusing both of defamation and Hill also of two counts of tortious interference with contract and prospective economic advantage. Hill then ultimately fired back and filed a counterclaim against Bauer accusing him

of sexual battery and battery. And this really ugly back and forth is happening, but right now there is a very big development. A video has been released. apparently from Hill's cell phone that shows her in bed next to a sleeping Bauer where she appears to be smiling and uninjured. And Bauer has retweeted a tweet that contained this video and he wrote, quote, this was taken hours after I supposedly brutally assaulted this woman when she claimed she was terrified and died and desperate out of my house and in tremendous pain. Bauer is claiming that this shows her counterclaims are false that she was lying about everything. Well, to make sense of this, let me bring in right now journalist Megan Cuniff, who wrote a great piece on this story on

law and crime.com. Megan, it's good to see you again, and thanks for coming on sidebar. Thanks for having me. What do we know about the circumstances of the release of the video? Because I think that's a bit odd, and I think we should clear that up, too. Yeah, it came out as an exhibit, actually, and a motion to strike Lindsay Hill's counterclaim. It was filed the other night in U.S. District Court, and the lawyer said they'd actually recently obtained it from the Pasadena Police Department. They'd done a request for any videos that Lindsay Hill had taken that they had on their phone, that she had on her phone when she was with Trevor Bauer, and they ended up getting this video. They've said that it really should

have been released back when they were doing the restraining order hearing, that this could have been evidence that further cleared him during that hearing. Even though the hearing did go his way, they're saying that this should have been released then. and they think it's important evidence for the judge to see. But let me understand this. His lawyers released the video. Was it in the filing? Because I think it seems a little odd, right?

I mean, and by the way, I also saw that he has been, he retweeted this. There's something up, I think, on his YouTube page where he, you know, says he has no words. He shows the video again. So he's trying to get it out there. But did his lawyers release it? I'm a little confused. Yes. Yeah.

They filed it with their motion as an exhibit. It wasn't actually available in the online pacer file just because it's an actual physical file, hard drive, thumb drive that they gave to the court. But my understanding is if you went into the clerk's office now and requested to see this exhibit, there would be some kind of process that would make that publicly available. But his lawyers also posted it on their own website and have made sure that it's publicly available through that. A lot of attorneys do that in cases where to kind of avoid people having to pay for the court documents, they'll make them available on their own. website. So they've done that with the motion and the exhibits, including the digital exhibit. Any reason to think this video isn't genuine at all? Or does it seem like it really came? Let me ask you this part. Does it seem like it definitely came from her cell phone and that it's the time in question, right? So if you can clear up for our listeners and our viewers, how many times do we know that they were together? I mean, how many times does she claim that she was abused by him? I mean, do we know it's from that time in question? I think that's the most critical part.

Yeah, there are two encounters that they had with the last one being in May being the one that really caused problems. And the lawyers have said in a sworn declaration that this is from May 16th, the date of the last encounter. And just given their status as state bar attorneys, these are sworn declarations, they would be committing some serious misconduct if they somehow were misrepresenting how they obtained this video or anything like that. And given the fact that it's been out there for a couple of days, haven't heard any kind of dispute about the authenticity of it or anything like that. I think some people have said, have questioned whether the video truly does exonerate him and prove anything. And I think legally when the judge is considering the motion to strike, I'm not sure how much he would consider this video, whereas there are other arguments here that these claims have

already been adjudicated in LA Superior Court, that kind of thing. You know, I'm not sure if the video will play that much into the judge's decision, but it definitely plays a lot into the court of public opinion, that's for sure. And that's kind of what I wanted to get into in a minute in terms of the fact that he has these kinds of resources and the power and, you know, to get it out there. Before we get to that, though, with the video itself, I mean, it is interesting because you look at the video in it of itself. She's literally sleeping right next to him or he's sleeping right next to her. She does seem to smile. There's a bite of the lip. I mean, we're trying to interpret what this can mean is based on her timeline of events. There seems to be an issue here, right? I mean,

she says that she was abused during the course of when they were together, but is it possible? Could she come back and say, this video was taken, but what it doesn't capture is what happened afterwards? I mean, you tell me what we should be looking at in terms of looking at that. Yeah, I think she could absolutely say that. Well, on the one hand, you could argue that she doesn't look in distress. There doesn't appear to be anything wrong. She appears, you know, happy and kind of, you know, almost bragging about her situation.

That is just a quick moment in time. And like you said, she might say, hey, this doesn't show everything that happened after that. And then other people who have expertise in sexual assault and how victims respond to this might say that it really just doesn't prove anything at all. But I think, you know, the video also just speaks for itself. And Trevor also has a lot of text messages and other things that he's kind of laid out in his filings that kind of really show that there are some disputed facts here for sure. And as I said, there's no criminal charges levied against him. there was an investigation that was done. That was my understanding.

This is more about the civil suit between them. And also, right, the MLB suspension. I'm curious, based on what you saw, could this video change that? Could this change his suspension? You know, some people have said that it really should. I saw, you know, some people were getting pretty fired up in social media comments saying that, oh, this calls into question the Major League Baseball's decision. But other people have said that that was a hearing that they had, and he had every chance

to present his side. and that there's, you know, other, other issues and there's other accusations. The woman actually in her counterclaim has said that since this all came out, she's heard from other women who said that they've been victimized by Trevor. So I think, you know, Major League Baseball might say that they have a more complete picture than what's being offered just in that video. But I think it definitely raises a lot of questions about what we're going to see coming here, especially just given the fact that Trevor is obviously committed to this.

He has another lawsuit against the athletic and he's, obviously committed to seeing this litigation through. And as Lindsay Hill said, in her counterclaim, he has a vast wealth that he can devote to this kind of stuff to not only lawyers, but public relation firms and that kind of thing. Right. He has another suit for defamation, right? Yeah, he's also suing the athletic and a former reporter there, Molly Knight for defamation for an article they wrote and a couple of tweets that she wrote. A judge actually heard argument over a motion to strike and summary judgment that the athletics lawyers have filed. So we could be seen a ruling on that pretty soon. And by the way, you know, this is evidence that's really interesting, right? It comes out.

It's not at this point great for Hill's position. If it does come out that she withheld this evidence, if it comes out that she wasn't honest with law enforcement about what happened, that's a big problem for her. But we're still just kind of in a reactionary state to what this is. There's something I just wanted to bring up you mentioned before, on social media and in society right now, is there a concern that he has all the power and the resources that he's going out against her and now posting this? Is that a concern that you're seeing that it seems a bit one-sided, David versus Goliath in a way? I think there is some concern on that, but he also seems to have some supporters who say that, you know, there was so much publicity surrounding the allegations

and that, you know, if he really was falsely accused, it's his right to get this stuff out there. But I think a lot of people look at the situation and aren't sure that it really shows that he was falsely accused. And I think a lot of people look at everything and say, no matter what happened here, this, I mean, it shows bad judgment on his part. He's a multimillion dollar Cy Young winner baseball player. And he doesn't deny that he hooked up with this woman who basically just started messaging him on Instagram.

I mean, I think a lot of people were pretty shocked by him. by that. Let me tell you, I bet you he is not the only celebrity to have fallen into that as well. That seems to be very common these days for someone in that position. Real quick before I let you go, I understand that the next thing that we might be looking out for is there is a hearing on November 21st, right? I think it's before a senior U.S. District judge James Selma and Santa Ana. Is there, am I right about that date? Is anything going to happen beforehand that might address this? Yes, he's been assigned to the case. That is going to be the first. hearing. It should be a pretty extensive hearing. He's a pretty thorough judge. We could expect to see a

tentative ruling before the hearing, too. He usually does that. But yeah, we'll be hearing probably argument on the motion to strike and about Lindsay Hill's counterclaim. So that should be a pretty interesting hearing for sure. Megan Cuniff, thanks so much for coming on and really appreciate it. And also you can catch up and read her article on law and crime.com. Megan, thanks so much. And thanks everybody for tuning into Sidebar. Please subscribe on Apple Podcast. Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcast, we very much appreciate it. I'm Jesse Weber. We'll speak to you next time.

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