Benjamin Ashford|Georgia man who accused NBA star Dwight Howard of sexual assault drops suit

LAWRENCEVILLE,Benjamin Ashford Ga. (AP) — A Georgia man dropped his lawsuit accusing former NBA star Dwight Howard of sexual assault after attorneys for Howard alleged the man deleted text messages showing their encounter was consensual.

Stephen Harper dismissed the case in a filing in Gwinnett County court on Tuesday. The dismissal was with prejudice, meaning he cannot refile the lawsuit.

The filing did not provide any explanation for the dismissal. Harper’s attorneys, Olga Izmaylova and Sadeer Sabbak, did not immediately return phone and email messages on Thursday.

Justin Bailey, an attorney for Howard, said his client did not pay Harper or reach any other type of settlement with him. He said Howard did not want to comment on the dismissal.

Bailey referred to court documents he filed in July accusing Harper of deleting text messages and presenting a false record of his conversations with Howard about the 2021 sexual encounter at Howard’s Georgia home. Howard’s attorneys said the missing messages showed that Harper consented to the encounter and planned to “expose” Howard after Howard stopped responding to his advances.

The filing sought sanctions against Harper and his attorneys, including payment of Howard’s attorney costs.

Gwinnett County police have said Harper filed a police report nearly a year after the encounter, but then did not meet with a detective despite repeated attempts to schedule an interview.