Broward prosecutors decline to file charges against Michael Irvin

Broward prosecutors declined Wednesday to file charges against football Hall of Famer and Fort Lauderdale native Michael Irvin after a woman accused him of rape.

In a memorandum, the prosecutor wrote the decision was based on a lack of medical evidence and inconsistencies between what the woman and others said.

The woman, Nicole A. Mostafa, filed a civil lawsuit in Broward Circuit Court against Irvin this month.

In her complaint, Mostafa says Irvin tried to get her drunk, lured her to his hotel room, and raped her at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino during the Fourth of July holiday in 2007. An unidentified man also forced her to perform oral sex that night, she said. Irvin's lawyer filed a civil lawsuit in Dallas, accusing Mostafa of trying to destroy Irvin's reputation and career. She is being sued for $100 million.

On Wednesday, attorney's for both sides called the decision a benefit. Mostafa's lawyer, David Lister, said this meant Irvin couldn't plead the Fifth Amendment in civil court proceedings.

Irvin's lawyer, Larry Friedman, said prosecutors made the right decision and he was confident the civil suit would end the same way.
In the memorandum, prosecutor Dennis Siegel wrote that his decision was based on what evidence he could present in court.

The only evidence that could be admitted, he wrote, was the woman's statement about what happened and how emotional she appeared afterward.

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
But there was no physical evidence, Siegel wrote. Records showed the woman called the Sexual Assault Treatment Center on July 6, saying she had been raped.

But the woman didn't go that day, at one point saying it was because ``she went there when she was a child and everything became publicized in a short period of time.''

Instead, she went to a private gynecologist.

``There is no mention in the records that the victim had provided a history to the examining medical professional of having been sexually assaulted,'' Siegel wrote.

After the encounter with Irvin, Mostafa bathed. She later washed the clothes she had been wearing.

She also waited 16 days to report what happened to Seminole police, and that was after consulting with lawyers, the memo said.

Tribe spokesman Gary Bitner said it was the Seminole police who turned the case over to prosecutors, even though the woman signed a waiver of prosecution. But the memo said the case was presented to prosecutors by a lawyer representing Mostafa.

Mostafa called her experience with Seminole police ``unpleasant.'' They told her the media was already aware of the story, which scared her, she said.

In response, Bitner said, ``Some police investigations require tough questions. The officers are trained to ask tough questions while being compassionate to the people involved.''

POLYGRAPH
Also discussed in the memo is a polygraph test taken by Mostafa. Lister said his firm wouldn't agree to take the case without it.

The test was administered by veteran polygraph examiner Leonard Bierman, who spoke about the test after receiving authorization from Mostafa's attorneys.

The first day in his office, the woman was too upset to take the test, including throwing up twice, Bierman said. She returned a few days later and read a statement she wrote about what happened that night.

The results showed the woman was truthful, Bierman said.

Four other polygraph experts reviewed the results and agreed.

``There's no question in my mind that she was truthful,'' Bierman said. ``It was not a marginal test in my mind at all.''

But that polygraph can't be submitted into evidence in a criminal case, Siegel wrote.

Irvin's lawyer, Friedman, called the polygraph ``fodder for negotiations.''

BACKGROUND
As a football player with the University of Miami and the Dallas Cowboys, Irvin was known for big plays and his big personality.

Even after his retirement, Irvin stayed in the spotlight. He had a radio show in Dallas and did broadcasting for the NFL Network.

He also had prior legal troubles, including pleading no contest to a cocaine charge in 1996.

Later in that same year, Irvin and a teammate were accused of sexually assaulting a woman. An investigation revealed the woman had made up the story and she soon recanted.

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(miamiherald.com)