MARYSVILLE, Calif. – A Northern California judge has thrown out a $4 million defamation lawsuit against a woman who says she was raped by a man four years ago.
Attorney McGregor Scott says that the judge on Monday dismissed the suit filed by Lang Her, a former University of California, Davis student who is in jail for assaulting Yee Xiong of Davis at a party in 2012.
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Her sued Xiong and three of her siblings because in 2015 they posted Facebook comments referring to him as a rapist.
Her stood trial in 2015 and this year for assaulting Xiong with both cases ending in hung juries.
With the prospect of a third trial looming, Her pleaded no contest to assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, a felony. He is serving a one-year sentence in the Yolo County jail. He also agreed to register as a sex offender for the duration of his five-year probation and undergo counseling. His attorney was not available for comment Tuesday.
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In an interview with The Associated Press last month, Xiong said the suit was like a “slap to the face,” what she saw as a way for Her to “continue to harass my family and me.”
Scott said the suit re-victimized the woman.
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“This woman had been victimized in the most horrible set of circumstances imaginable,” Scott told KCRA. “And as soon as her attacker was sentenced in the criminal courts, she got served with a lawsuit as she’s walking out of the courthouse.”
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In Xiong’s case, according to court documents, she told police she woke in the early hours of July 10, 2012, after a night of drinking in an off-campus apartment, with her arms pinned by Her. She said he was having sexual intercourse with her.
Both were students at the University of California, Davis at the time.
After his semen was found during a rape kit evaluation, Her maintained that no penetration occurred, and testified that he believed Xiong wanted to have sex with him. Her’s attorneys questioned why Xiong stayed the rest of the night in the apartment if she had been raped.
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