Last Wednesday Broward County authorities decided that a rape claim by Nicole Alisa Mostafa against NFL great Michael Irvin had no merit and no criminal charges would be filed.
Irvin and his attorneys have been on the offensive since Miss Mostafa filed a civil suit a few days before the Super Bowl. They counter sued for defamation and extoration saying that Miss. Mostafa made up the entire thing simply to get paid.
In the middle of all of this ESPN relived Irvin of his duties at the ESPN radio affiliate in Dallas and Irvin’s lawyer is saying that was based off a false claim and is considering suing ESPN now. Here are his comments from the Dallas Morning News along with some comments from Irvin:
“It’s been a horrific ordeal,” said Irvin, a former Cowboys receiver. “I am so pleased that trained investigators concluded what she claimed occurred never happened.”
Mostafa’s civil suit remains in the early “answer” stage. Larry Friedman, Irvin’s attorney for more than a decade, said ESPN could be drawn into the affair.
“We’re seriously considering a suit against ESPN,” Friedman said. “They fired Michael Irvin immediately after Ms. Mostafa filed the lawsuit and made public the false allegations that hurt Michael Irvin and his career.”
ESPN claims that Irvin’s contract was up and was released for poor performance. They say it is just a coincidence that he was hit with the civil suit around the same time.
Regardless of who you believe, when a woman makes a false claim of “rape” it can have long term effects on the reputation of the person she is accusing. It also makes it more difficult for women who are “rape” to come forward because of fear that they won’t be believed.
It is a very serious charge and not something that should be seen as a lottery ticket.
