Dodgers News: Trevor Bauer Court Hearing to Last Multiple Days Over Several Weeks

The news involving Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer and the sexual assault allegations he’s been accused of took a step forward today. Bauer and his representation had their day in civil court on Friday as they argued his side for the first time in a hearing to determine the validity of the temporary ex parte restraining order obtained by the woman who accused Bauer.

UPDATE and clarity at the request of a representative of Bauer

A temporary ex parte restraining order is filed in civil court without any corroboration. The woman’s statement is taken at face value without him being given an opportunity to respond. The accused is notified of the allegations and given a formal hearing and first opportunity to respond and refute any of the allegations at that time.

The hearing is to determine whether the temporary ex parte restraining order is dismissed or becomes a restraining order.

Related: Trevor Bauer Reportedly Under Investigation for Assault

What we’ve learned so far is that the hearing is expected to last “two to three days” but those days will be spread out over several weeks. The court was recessed at about 2:10 pm PT on Friday with the hearing set to resume on the morning of August 2nd at 8:30 am. August 3rd and 19th are scheduled as well.

The attorney for the woman is expected to call “about six witnesses” to the hearing, according to LA Times editor Steve Henson. Trevor Bauer reportedly has brought in his own witnesses. Additionally, according to Luca Evans (reporting on behalf of the LA Times), the judge ruled that Bauer must take the stand, “even if he were simply to invoke the Fifth Amendment.”

ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez was also at the courthouse.

Hearing has been moved to Aug. 2. Bauer’s team needs more time to prepare a defense against witnesses and medical records that they say they only received recently. Bauer’s legal team has advised him not to testify. Petitioners argued he nonetheless has to take the stand.

— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) July 23, 2021

Alden added the following: the temporary restraining order will remain in place until after this hearing is completed. Bauer’s administrative leave expires on Tuesday, though MLB can request yet another extension to the MLBPA. The hope is that this wraps by Aug. 3, but that is no guarantee.

Update and corrections to Alden’s tweets from a representative of Bauer

There is absolutely no trial. This is a civil court hearing to determine the validity of a temporary ex parte restraining order filed by the woman and also Mr. Bauer’s first opportunity to refute her claims. The entirety of the proceeding is a hearing and at no point related to this hearing will there be any “trial”.

The hearing was scheduled for Aug. 2 because the woman’s legal team intentionally delayed the sharing of numerous necessary and required documents to Mr. Bauer’s legal team until Thursday evening knowing that the hearing was on Friday morning. The judge agreed this was an inappropriate amount of notice and her attorneys did not dispute this.. Additionally, as Ms. Holly clearly pointed out in the hearing, Mr. Bauer’s team was fully prepared to defend and refute the woman’s allegations and to cross examine her based on the details of her uncorroborated and highly inaccurate petition.

As a matter of procedure in these hearings, the temporary order is always automatically extended during the hearing until the judge makes a determination as to its validity. Please note that this is a matter of procedure and not any type of ruling in the matter which the judge also made clear yesterday.

Bauer, 30, is under investigation by Pasadena police for sexual assault allegations stemming from two separate encounters with a San Diego woman who says he punched and choked her to unconsciousness, among other unsavory things. Officially, Bauer has not been arrested or charged with any crime.

Update

A representative of Bauer has requested that the above line reflect as following:

Definitively, Mr. Bauer has not been arrested nor have any charges been filed. This is not a technicality and is an undisputed fact.

Bauer’s attorney Jon Fetterolf denied the accusations in a statement wherein he said that “Mr. Bauer had a brief and wholly consensual sexual relationship initiated by [the woman] beginning in April 2021.”

Moreover, Bauer’s camp has released text messages and Instagram messages between him and the woman in an effort to argue that the roughness of the encounter was at the woman’s request. In court filings, the woman has stated that she consented to have sex with him, but that she “did not agree or consent to what he did next … I did not agree to be sexually assaulted.”

Update

More from Bauer’s representative.

As per our original statement, Mr. Bauer and [the woman] had a two-time consensual sexual relationship. By no means does that imply or affirm that the entirety of her allegations in her uncorroborated and unsubstantiated civil court temporary ex parte restraining order petition occurred or that we acknowledge they occurred. As such, it is highly inaccurate and inflammatory to state that we say the activities alleged by the woman were consensual.

“We continue to refute [the woman’s] allegations in the strongest possible terms and Mr. Bauer vehemently denies her account of their two meetings.”

“Her basis for filing a protection order is nonexistent, fraudulent, and deliberately omits key facts, information, and her own relevant communications. Any allegations that the pair’s encounters were not 100% consensual are baseless, defamatory, and will be refuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

For added clarity on the wording chosen in the original version of this article, here is the original statement from Bauer’s attorney, which opens as follows:

Mr. Bauer had a brief and wholly consensual sexual relationship initiated by [the woman] beginning in April 2021. We have messages that show [the woman] repeatedly asking for “rough” sexual encounters involving requests to be “choked out” and slapped in the face. In both of their encounters, [the woman] drove from San Diego to Mr. Bauer’s residence in Pasadena, Calif. where she went on to dictate what she wanted from him sexually and he did what was asked. 

Here is the full statement from Jon Fetterolf via ESPN.

Following a TMZ report that police in California are investigating Dodgers star Trevor Bauer for an assault on a woman, Bauer's attorney, Jon Fetterolf, released a statement in which he denied the allegations. ESPN has chosen not to name the woman even though her attorney did. pic.twitter.com/jdSbmNtQma

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 30, 2021

Related: Dodgers Issue Statement on Trevor Bauer Situation

The right-handed pitcher has been on administrative leave since July 3 while MLB conducts its own investigation into the allegations. As of now, his leave is set to expire after July 27.

The league and player’s union could agree to extend Bauer’s leave beyond the current July 27 date.

Trevor Bauer Update: Leave Extended, Dodgers Teammates ‘Moving Forward’ Without Bauer

According to Los Angeles family law attorney Chloe Wolman, via the Los Angeles Times, there are two possible outcomes: the restraining order is kept in place, or it is lifted.

Either way, Wolman said, “That legal case is effectively over.”

As it stands, the likelihood of Bauer’s administrative leave being extended is high. More to come on this story.

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