Marcelo Rodriguez, the police officer who arrested singer George Michael for lewdness and subsequently filed a slander suit against the singer, has restarted his slander suit with an eyebrow-raising new legal filing.
Lawyers for Beverly Hills police officer Rodriguez have filed an amended complaint in U.S. District Court, this time filled with graphic allegations of Michaels' bathroom hijinx that led to his celebrated arrest April 7, 1998 at Will Rogers Park in Beverly Hills.
The new filing comes after U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo B. Marshall dismissed Rodriguez' original $10 million slander lawsuit in Los Angeles Feb. 11. The judge, however, allowed Rodriguez to file a revised suit if it included examples of offending statements Michael made that could be proved false. Rodriguez lost his original suit when a judge ruled that Michaels making fun of the arrest in a music video was protected free speech.
Rodriguez, who arrested Michael, 37, for lewd conduct in a public park restroom claimed he was emotionally distressed when Michael parodied the arrest in the song and music video "Outside." The song alludes to outdoor sex and a set of suggestive remarks Michael made to the British press. The original lawsuit asked for at least $10 million in damages.
"He [Michael] was ... basically saying the cop came on to him," said Laura Snow, the officer's spokeswoman. "It was completely false."
"The things he said and did in his song and video did not constitute slander as a matter of law," argued Texas attorney Jeff Tillotson, who defended Michael. "It's a complete victory as far as Mr. Michael is concerned. He felt vindicated and gratified."
But Snow insisted the case was not really dismissed and that the judge had simply asked for "clarification on one portion of the suit." Rodriguez was allowed to amend the lawsuit and refile it by Feb. 22 which he did.
Judge Marshall's ruling asked Rodriguez to submit examples of offending statements Michael made that could be proved false. Michael's lawyer contends that after his arrest, his client "said merely the truth," which is constitutionally protected speech.
Rodriguez has claimed that his life was disrupted, and his ability to get freelance security work diminished after Michael publicly joked about his bathroom arrest. Rodriguez's name was tainted, he said, because of his bathroom bust of Michael.
Michael, whose legal name is Georgios Kyriacos Panayotou, pleaded no contest to the lewd conduct charge, was fined $810 and was sentenced to perform 80 hours of community service.
Rodriguez' amended, sexually explicit complaint alleges, among other things, that Michael was found inside the bathroom in full public view, leaning against a wall and masturbating.
"The judge asked for more specific statements to support the claim of slander," Snow said. "There's nothing here in terms of trying to embarrass anyone." Tillotson called the new lawsuit "purposefully salacious."
The slander accusation rests on statements Michael made to British publications such as Q magazine. In those interviews, the singer claimed that Rodriguez, who Michael called handsome, had exposed himself to entrap him into a lewd act.
In response, Rodriguez's lawyer writes in the lawsuit that his client never "in any way expose[d] his genitalia in front of or in the presence of [Michael]."
