RENO, Nev. (AP) - A lawyer for the woman who claims Ben Roethlisberger raped her at Lake Tahoe last summer is asking a judge to sanction the Steeler quarterback's legal team for trying to "bully" and intimidate her into dropping her civil lawsuit.
Cal Dunlap says Roethlisberger's lawyers tried to "smear" the woman with an affidavit from an ex-friend who said the sex at a hotel-casino was consensual and that the woman bragged about it.
Dunlap said in a motion filed Thursday in Reno that Roethlisberger's lawyers made a settlement offer this week suggesting they might counter sue her for defamation.
Roethlisberger's lawyers said in the offer that a "conspiracy to extort and defame" him has seriously harmed his potential earnings in excess of $20 million. They want her to write him a letter of apology.