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Actress Lindsay Lohan arrives for the
grand opening of Social Hollywood in Hollywood, California June 27, 2006.
This event included a silent auction to benefit the Charlize Theron Africa
Outreach Program.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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BEIJING, Sept. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Lindsay Lohan's
lawyer filed a 10-page brief Friday in Los Angeles to dismiss all or part
of a negligence suit against her because of a 2005 car crash, saying the
plaintiff's claim that Lohan was drunk when she hit his van is nothing but "a
battering ram to force a settlement.
Ortega sued Lohan and West Hollywood nightclub the
Ivy on June 14 for at least 200,000 U.S. dollars in damages, alleging in his
complaint that the Georgia Rule star got tipsy during lunch and then, as she was
looking over her shoulder and recklessly barreling north on Robertson Blvd.,
smashed into his vehicle with her Mercedes.
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Actress Lindsay Lohan, star of the film
"Bobby", poses next to the film's poster featuring a photograph of Robert
Kennedy as she arrives at the opening night gala of the AFI Fest and U.S.
premiere of the film in Hollywood, California November 1, 2006. The film
directed by Emilio Estevez details the night Robert F. Kennedy was
assassinated in Los Angeles in 1968. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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"These are nothing but inflammatory statements,"
Gerisch's brief states. "The mere presence of this type of allegation in the
complaint is an attempt to embarrass [Lohan] with false allegations in order to
use it as a battering ram to force a settlement."
Gerisch refers to the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department's report on the incident, which states that alcohol was not
a factor in the crash and that Ortega was at fault for hooking an illegal U-turn
right in front of Lohan, who was referred to as an "innocent victim" at the
time.
Ortega's attorney, Robert G. Klein, has criticized
Gerisch for using the police report as so-called evidence, calling the document
hearsay. Klein stated in a recent court filing that he has witnesses who will
testify that Lohan was speeding and was served alcohol "shortly before the
accident."
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Actress Lindsay Lohan takes a taxi boat
upon her arrival in Venice September 4, 2006. Lohan stars in director
Emilio Estevez's " Bobby", which is being shown at the Venice Film
Festival.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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Klein has also said the judge should take judicial
notice of media reports about Lohan's recent DUI-related troubles, including the
fact that she's checked into rehab twice this year, both times before she had
even reached the legal drinking age.
"The fact that Ms. Lohan was admitted to rehab for
alcohol abuse shortly after this accident raised a presumption that at the time
of his accident she was under the influence," Klein's filing reads.
(Agencies)
