A lawsuit filed against Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee accusing him of sexual assault during a 2003 San Diego helicopter ride has been dropped after a judge ruled the statute of limitations had not been met.
The plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe in court documents, filed the request to dismiss her lawsuit without prejudice Friday, leaving the door open to future refiling.
"The voluntary dismissal thus has nothing to do with the veracity of Ms. Doe's claim, but instead results solely from the Court's recent ruling that the procedural requirements of the current statute of limitations governing adult sexual assault cases have not been met - a ruling with which we strongly disagree," her lawyer, Melissa Eubanks, said in a statement to Rolling Stone.
"We anticipate that currently pending legislation will reopen the window for adult survivors of sexual assault to pursue claims directly against their perpetrators, and Ms. Doe fully intends to re-pursue her claims and to seek the recourse she deserves when that legislation is enacted."
Lee's lawyer Sasha Frid called the dismissal a "complete vindication for Tommy Lee."
"He has maintained from the very beginning that these allegations were bogus and false. The plaintiff voluntarily dismissed her claims. This dismissal was not subject to any settlement," Frid said to the outlet.
According to court documents filed in December, Jane Doe accused helicopter pilot David Martz of luring her on the ride under the pretense of a sightseeing tour, the outlet reported. She claimed she was surprised when they picked up the now 61-year-old rocker.
During the helicopter ride from San Diego County to Van Nuys, California, Lee allegedly sexually assaulted the victim, while Martz – who died in a 2015 private plane crash – "merely watched."
"... plaintiff was in tears, but she had nowhere to go - she was trapped with little mobility to leave the cockpit," the documents obtained by the magazine stated. Jane Doe alleged she experienced "great shock, distress, humiliation, shame, and guilt," from the incident.
The plaintiff accused Lee and Martz of having "a history of engaging in indecent and illegal conduct on Martz's helicopter."
