James Brown Rape Case Tossed

Thu., Jun. 30, 2005 2:15 PM PDT by Josh Grossberg

James Brown is off the hook for allegedly being superbad.

A federal judge in Chicago has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Godfather of Soul by his former PR assistant, Jacques Hollander, who claims she developed a serious disorder after Brown raped her at gunpoint 17 years ago.

U.S. Magistrate Sidney Schenkler ruled on Wednesday that the two-year statute of limitations for such claims had run out. Don Rosen, the lawyer for Brown's accuser, indicated he would appeal what he labeled "an injustice."

"The idea that somebody could get away with the brutality Mr. Brown has--even after 17 years--and not see a day in court based on the idea that he has successfully managed to instill fear in my client is an injustice for any victim," Rosen said.

Hollander, a 48-year-old Chicago native, sued the 72-year-old entertainer for $106 million in January, alleging he sexually assaulted her in 1988 in a van parked off a South Carolina highway, then threatened her if she didn't keep quiet. Her suit stated that the rape caused her to develop the autoimmune disorder Graves' disease that she was diagnosed with in 2000. Her doctors allegedly said it was related to the attack. Graves' disease can be triggered by intense stress.

Brown's attorney, Debra Opri, was unavailable for comment Thursday, but she had previously called the allegations a "shakedown in its most stupid form" and "rag-sheet fodder."

According to court documents, the attack occurred while Brown and Hollander were on their way to a car dealership. Brown drove to a secluded area, threatened Hollander with a shotgun, then "raped, beat and mentally tortured her over the course of several hours," per the suit. Afterward, Brown allegedly cautioned Hollander not to report the incident or he'd kill her.

At the time of the filing, Rosen correctly predicted that Opri would seek to have the case thrown out because of the long time lapse before lodging the complaint. To counter Opri's claim, Rosen tried to argue that the time frame didn't start until 2003, when Hollander said she first learned of the link between her illness and the alleged attack and therefore the filing was made before the two-year limit was up.

But the judge didn't buy that spin.

For her part, Hollander vowed to fight on.

"I had a good career and I am a decent person and all I asked for over 17 years?is to walk into a court room and present evidence of what this man did to me," Hollander told E! Online.

Brown, who's feeling pretty good these days after a successful recovery from prostate-cancer surgery last December, had no comment.

(Updated July 12, 2005 at 12:55 p.m. PT.)