*Former Los Angeles Lakers star and coach Byron Scott has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, temporarily stopping a civil trial over allegations that he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl nearly four decades ago.
Scott filed Sept. 4 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, triggering an automatic stay that prevents Hayley Dylan’s lawsuit from proceeding unless the bankruptcy court allows it to resume, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The case had initially been set for trial Sept. 8 before a scheduling conflict pushed it to Oct. 12.
Scott’s bankruptcy filing estimates his assets at $50,000 or less and liabilities between $1 million and $10 million, identifying the debt as “alleged tort liability.”
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Accuser’s Attorney Plans To Fight Stay
Dylan’s attorney, Kerry Garvis Wright, sharply criticized the timing of Scott’s filing and said her legal team intends to ask the bankruptcy court to lift the stay.
Wright called the move a “pathetic and cowardly” effort to prevent Dylan from presenting her case to a jury. That is the attorney’s characterization; the bankruptcy filing itself does not establish Scott’s motive. His attorney did not respond to the Times’ request for comment about the filing.
As EURweb previously reported, Dylan alleges Scott sexually assaulted her in a janitor’s closet at Campbell Hall School in 1987, when she was 15 and he was 26.
Scott has acknowledged sexual contact occurred but denies assaulting Dylan. He maintains that he believed she was 18 and part of a video production crew rather than a student.
Campbell Hall, which had also been named as a defendant, reached a confidential settlement with Dylan in August.
The bankruptcy means the central dispute remains unresolved. Dylan’s lawyers are now fighting on a different legal front for the opportunity to put her allegations before a jury, while Scott continues to deny that the encounter was an assault.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Former Lakers Star Byron Scott’s Sexual Assault Trial Set for Sept. 8 After School Settles
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