The woman accusing former Auburn football player Landon Rice of rape has requested the protection from abuse order against him be dismissed, according to a report by AL.com.
The accuser claims she filed for the order of protection from abuse on Sept. 12 after consulting with the Auburn Police Department due to numerous instances of harassment after she reported being raped by Rice to the police on July 27.
The order of protection was granted temporarily on Sept. 15.
Since then, the accuser says she hasn't been contacted by Rice, who has indicated to her that he will not be present on Auburn University campus or attend any University events, and because of this she wishes to have the protection from abuse order against him dismissed.
The accuser's lawyer, Jeffrey Herman, told AL.com his client stands by the accusation of rape and will allow the legal process to play out regarding her claim.
"That's out of her hands," Herman said. "There is a process that she respects both at the university and with the criminal authorities and she'll both let both those run their own course."
In the petition to dismiss the order of protection, the accuser's lawyers write of numerous instances of harassment that led to her filing for protection from abuse.
On Sept. 1, the accuser claims she was "contacted by a person friendly with Rice inquiring about the matter and wanting to discuss it with her."
Five days later, "another friend of Rice's contacted the (accuser) one time and a friend of the (accuser) numerous times about the matter attempting to intimidate the (accuser) into withdrawing her complaint indicating 'We will just have to go to war with this.'"
On Sept. 7, "numerous intimidating fliers were distributed around Auburn University, as well as on street signs around the Plaintiff's off-campus apartment, alleging false accusations against males, quoting verses from The Bible, and directly asking the (accuser's) sorority sisters to convince (Rice) to 'drop her Title IX Investigation.' The plaintiff reported this harassment to the Auburn Police Department.
The accuser's lawyers claim that on Sept. 9, the accuser's father received an "anonymous letter" at the family's home and his place of work "attempting to intimidate the (accuser) through her father, indicating 'Let me ask you a question, are you prepared for what your daughter is going to be dragged through?'"
After learning of the petition to dismiss the protection from abuse order, Rice's lawyers released a statement on Wednesday evening.
"Landon recently learned that the (accuser) requested the dismissal of the action for protection from abuse," Augusta S. Dowd and A. Kelly Brennan, Rice's lawyers, said in a statement. "In her dismissal request, (the accuser) identifies four times she was contacted by persons other than Landon. These contacts formed the basis for her request for a protection from abuse order.
"She does not and cannot link those communications to Landon. Landon, in fact, has had no direct or indirect contact with Plaintiff since June 2016. The requirements for a (protection from abuse) are simply not met. Counsel have done an extensive investigation, and Landon was prepared to go forward with trial to clear his name."
The accuser's lawyers last week released text messages in which Rice repeatedly apologized to the accuser.
Auburn police list the case as "inactive," but that classification does not mean the investigation is over.
Rice left the football team earlier this month for "personal reasons," and has not been charged.
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