A lawsuit by a former member of the girl band Dream against Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter, alleging he raped her in his Santa Monica apartment in 2003, should proceed while another suit filed against the "Hurts to Love You" singer simultaneously moves forward in Nevada, the plaintiff's attorneys argue in new court papers.
Melissa Schuman's Santa Monica Superior Court lawsuit was filed in April 2023 and alleges sexual battery, sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Schuman also names as a defendant Carter's company, Kaotic Productions. She first went public with her allegations against Carter in 2017.
In court papers filed previously with Judge Lisa K. Sepe-Wiesenfeld, the performer's attorneys state that the facts, legal issues, parties and witnesses from the Nevada lawsuit brought by Shannon "Shay" Ruth are essentially identical to those in Schuman's suit and that therefore a stay is warranted.
But in pleadings filed Wednesday, Schuman's lawyers disagree that a stay is warranted or that the facts in both cases are the same. The plaintiff's lawyers further Carter's attorneys have "adopted myriad strategies" to tie their client's case to the one in the neighboring state.
Carter's attorneys are "manipulating the legal process and recycling failed arguments to stall litigation of (Schuman's) separate and independent claim properly filed in this court," Schuman's lawyers contend in their court papers in urging that the motion to stay be denied.
In her suit, Schuman contends Carter invited her to his Santa Monica apartment in 2003, while both were working on filming a teen horror film called "The Hollow." The complaint further states that Carter, who was with a male friend, invited her over to "hang out and play video games."
Schuman went to his apartment with her roommate, and while there, Carter began making cocktails, and the lawsuit contends he put some type of drug in her drink. Carter led her to a back office under the pretense of sharing some new music he was working on, but he began sexually assaulting her, eventually raping her in a bedroom, the lawsuit states.
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According to Carter's attorneys' pleadings, Ruth sued Carter in Nevada in December 2022, alleging the singer sexually assaulted her on his tour bus after a Backstreet Boys concert in Tacoma, Washington, in February 2022.
Carter responded in February 2023 by countersuing Ruth, Schuman, and Schuman's father, Jerome Schuman, alleging that the three conspired for years to defame and extort Carter. The countersuit is on appeal.
When the judge on Jan. 17 denied Carter's motion to dismiss Schuman's lawsuit on grounds it should have been filed in Nevada where the parties live, she also said that Carter's arguments would be "more persuasive" if the singer was seeking a stay rather than a dismissal, the performer's lawyers state in their pleadings.
A hearing on Carter's motion to stay is scheduled July 10.
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