Civil trial begins for Rodman

Deepa Bharath

Dennis Rodman on Thursday testified in a civil trial that he has no

recollection of meeting a woman who accused the former NBA star of

drugging her, taking her to his West Newport home and sexually

assaulting her several times.

“I don’t recall having sex with your client,” Rodman calmly told

Marcus Mancini, attorney for plaintiff Jo Len McGowen.

Accompanied by wife Michelle, the local celebrity, notorious for

his raucous beach parties, walked into a courtroom at the Central

Justice Center wearing a long-sleeved white shirt with his hair dyed

bright blue to match the color of his jeans.

McGowen accuses Rodman of sexual battery, negligence and false

imprisonment in March 2001. She said he savagely attacked her as she

slipped in and out of consciousness.

When Mancini asked Rodman if it was possible that he had had sex

with McGowen, he simply replied: “It’s possible. Anything is

possible.”

During his testimony, Rodman said people like to toss allegations

at him.

“I’m accused of a lot of things in my life,” he said.

“Do you think you’re above the law?” Mancini asked.

“No, I don’t,” Rodman replied. “I think it’s worse to me than

anyone else in this courtroom.”

Rodman’s testimony was laced with his own brand of humor, which

elicited a few muted laughs from the gallery.

“As the owner of Josh Slocum’s, are you allowed to go behind the

bar and make drinks for people?” Mancini asked.

“I’m allowed to go to the restroom, too,” Rodman muttered under

his breath and followed it up with a quick “yes.”

Mancini, who made his opening statements before he called Rodman

to testify, said this case was about Rodman being “as bad as he wants

to be,” referring to Rodman’s autobiography “Bad as I Wanna Be.”

“Mr. Rodman considers himself above the fray and above the law,”

Mancini said. “And he does exactly what he wants to do.”

In March 2001, McGowen and two of her friends went to Josh

Slocum’s, a Mariner’s Mile restaurant that Rodman owns, Mancini said.

That was where his client met Rodman, who approached her and handed

her a beer, he said. He alleged that Rodman had slipped Rohypnol --

what is known as the “date rape drug” -- into her drink.

McGowen’s next recollection was of being on Rodman’s bed and his

brutally assaulting her, Mancini said. The bedroom door was locked

from outside, imprisoning his client, he said.

“She has been sexually assaulted,” Mancini said. “No matter what

lifestyle she had, no matter what was going on in her life, she said

‘no,’ and no means no.”

Outside the courtroom, Rodman said he was different, but has never

harmed anyone.

“People know me in Newport Beach,” he said. “I walk there on the

street. I bike there. I’m not that kind of a guy.”

Sure, he has had unconventional parties, he said.

“I have a lot of parties in my house,” he said. “People have said

Dennis is too loud. But this?”

He said he had no recollection of McGowen.

“I don’t remember what happened one and a half years ago,” he

said. “I don’t remember the movie I watched last week.”

Rodman said he did not want to go into the details of the case out

of “respect for Ms. McGowen.”

Earlier, in his opening statements, Rodman’s attorney, John McKay,

argued that McGowen willingly had sex with his client although Rodman

has no recollection of it ever happening. McKay said McGowen

“bragged” to her friends at the restaurant she worked in the days

after her meeting with Rodman about how she had bedded the celebrity.

He said McGowen filed the complaint with Newport Beach Police

Department only on March 18, 2001, after she had been fired from the

job. McKay also said he had evidence from doctors that McGowen lost

consciousness not because of a date rape drug mixed in her drink, but

because she was drinking alcohol after taking pain medication.

In February, Rodman settled another lawsuit filed by Tina New, an

aspiring model and actress who had filed a $10-million lawsuit

accusing him of drugging and raping her more than two years ago in

his Seashore Drive home.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.