Tommy Lee sexual assault charge suspended

A judge has given a woman 20 days to file an amended complaint against Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee for an alleged sexual assault that occurred during a helicopter flight.

The facts relate to what was reported by a woman, identified only as Jane Doe, who reported last December that the drummer of Mötley Crüe he had sexually assaulted her in 2003, after having lured her onto his personal helicopter “by deception”.

He said in the filing that he took a 40-minute trip from San Diego to Van Nuys with Lee's personal helicopter pilot, David Martz, before Lee joined them after they landed.

She went on to claim that the two men “consumed several alcoholic beverages, smoked marijuana and snorted cocaine” before Lee “proceeded to sexually assault her by forcibly groping her, kissing her, fingering her and attempting to force her” to perform oral sex.

Following the alleged assault, Doe said she suffered severe emotional, physical and psychological distress and did not report it because she believed the police would not take it seriously.

Yesterday (May 6), Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Holly J. Fujie, Rolling Stones reported, sided with Lee after the drummer's lawyer argued that the charges did not fit in the offenses under the law Plaintiff Jane Doe mentioned when she filed her original lawsuit.

The law, known as the Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act, requires plaintiffs to demonstrate that some type of “legal entity” is engaged in an effort to conceal evidence of their alleged sexual assault.

Lee's attorney, A. Sasha Frid, argued that Jane Doe had written in her initial complaint that Lee was already known for his “salacious and hedonistic conduct” at the time of the alleged helicopter attack. “This would eliminate any possibility of illegal activity. You cannot have an accusation when the complainant claims that this alleged 'salacious' behavior was known to everyone,” Frid argued.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Holly J. Fujie provisionally dismissed all four charges against the drummer – sexual assault, gender violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence – pending the filing of a new complaint.

The judge also said the plaintiff “failed to establish supporting facts of an illegal or illicit activity”.

The plaintiff had sought damages of an unspecified sum.