Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Vick tries to dismiss lawsuit
The former Tech QB's lawyer argues there are no grounds for a civil suit in the plantiff's complaint.
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The attorney for former Virginia Tech quarterback Marcus Vick is asking a judge to dismiss the $6.35 million lawsuit that was filed against Vick by a Christiansburg girl and her grandmother last month.
The motion to dismiss was filed Tuesday in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
The girl, now 17, claims in her lawsuit that she had a sexual relationship with Vick, now 22, that began in January 2004 and continued through December 2005. The girl is only identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit.
The girl accuses Vick -- who recently finished his rookie season with the Miami Dolphins -- of sexual battery upon a minor, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud, and willful and wanton conduct.
The girl identifies herself in the lawsuit as the one who had sex with Vick on the January 2004 night that led to his arrest that year on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. According to the lawsuit, she was 15 when she first had sex with him. She had sex with him eight more times after that night, according to the lawsuit.
The response by Vick's attorney, Larry Woodward of Virginia Beach, contends that the allegations of sexual battery should be stricken because "violation of criminal statute does not give rise to a private cause of action."
The lawsuit claims that "Jane Doe suffered, and will continue to suffer, psychological trauma associated with the child sexual abuse."
The response states the claim of infliction of emotional distress should be stricken because the girl "fails to allege any objective physical injury caused by stress."
The lawsuit contends Vick "made repeated misrepresentations to plaintiff Jane Doe, including that defendant Marcus Vick was in love with her; that defendant Marcus Vick wanted her to have his child ... and that it was acceptable and necessary for plaintiff Jane Doe to engage in sexual intercourse with other adult men in order to please him."
The motion seeks to have the claim of fraud stricken because "expressions of opinion cannot form the basis of an action for fraud."
"The complaint fails to allege any provably false representation by the defendant and instead alleges only subjective opinions and wants of the defendant," the motion states.
The motion also states an allegation of willful and wanton conduct "does not give rise to a cause of action."
Vick was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor in February 2004 in a case involving three underage girls. According to the lawsuit, as a condition of his bond, Vick was ordered to have "no contact with the victims." The lawsuit states that was also a condition of his bond when he was convicted three months later. Vick appealed that conviction.
When Vick pleaded no contest in September 2004 to one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, he was convicted and ordered by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Bobby Turk to have no contact with the victims.
The motion states that violations of court orders "do not give rise to a private cause of action."
Woodward declined to comment Tuesday.
The girl's lawyer, Stephen Haga, said Tuesday that before filing the lawsuit, he made a financial demand to settle the case. He said when he didn't get a "timely response," he filed the lawsuit and took the demand off the table.
"We feel very strongly about our case," Haga said.
Staff writer Shawna Morrison contributed to this report.




