Despite police findings that the allegation was a lie, the woman who accused Dallas Cowboys stars Michael Irvin and Erik Williams of sexual assault has revived her claim, according to her lawyer.
Nina Shahravan, 23, who later recanted her original claim, was free on $500 bond on a misdemeanor perjury charge after she surrendered to authorities at the Dallas County jail Thursday.She would not respond to reporters' questions as deputies ushered her in the jail's back door. However, attorney G. David Smith of Dallas said, "The original statement given by my client to the Dallas police is true. . . . I represent the victim of a rape."
The perjury charge against Shahravan carries a penalty of up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
The Class B charge that police originally sought carries a penalty of up to six months in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Shahravan filed a police report Dec. 30 after first going to a television reporter with her accusations that Irvin held a gun to her head while Williams and a third man, who was never identified, raped her in Williams' home. She also accused Irvin of videotaping the attack.
Both Irvin and Williams denied the claim from the start. They were never charged.
Police said Shahravan recanted the allegations last Friday after she was confronted with evidence that Irvin couldn't have been at Williams' house on the night of the alleged attack.
Dallas County prosecutor Mike Gillett declined comment on Smith's remarks, but he confirmed that Shahravan signed a statement recanting her allegations.
Smith said the alleged recantation was "a matter of perception. You can write one thing down and I can write down another and we both interpret it differently."
Shahravan was called to police headquarters Jan. 10 and told "they had proof that the facts were not as she stated them."
"She signed a statement, but to me it's not a confession of anything," he said.