The civil hearing for the temporary restraining order obtained against Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer moved from Aug. 16 to Aug. 19.
The hearing, which was expected to last two to three days, was originally scheduled for Aug. 3, 4 and 19, but Bauer’s side again asked for an extension, sources told ESPN.
Bauer’s administrative leave has been extended three times and currently runs through August 6, but Major League Baseball may continue to extend it with the consent of the MLB Players Association. Doing so is mutually beneficial because it allows more time for investigations to complete while continuing to pay players.
The initial hearing, attended by Bauer and his accuser, took place Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court and was delayed for an additional six business days after Bauer’s attorneys requested more time to prepare a defense against the witnesses and the evidence they claimed they did not receive until the night before the hearing.
Delaying the hearing further would allow Bauer’s team more time to prepare to question witnesses (the women’s team previously stated that it would call six) and perhaps give the ongoing criminal investigation a chance to conclude before then. .
One of Bauer’s attorneys, Shawn Holley, who defended Lindsay Lohan, told the judge during Friday’s hearing that he had advised his client not to testify given the simultaneous criminal investigation. But the petitioner’s side stated that Bauer must nonetheless take the stand, even if he invokes his Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions.
Bauer’s legal team is expected to call three or four witnesses.
MLB and the Pasadena City Police Department are conducting separate investigations into Bauer, who has been accused by a woman of suffocating her until she lost consciousness multiple times, striking her in various areas of her body and leaving her with injuries that required hospitalization. the course of two sexual encounters earlier this year, according to a domestic violence restraining order that was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on June 28, copies of which were obtained by ESPN.
The temporary restraining order was enforced ex parte, which can be accomplished without the other party’s involvement. Bauer’s side has strongly denied the sexual assault allegations, calling the interactions between him and the woman “totally consensual” and saying in an earlier statement that Bauer “vehemently denies his account of their two meetings.”
Bauer has not been with the Dodgers since he was initially put on leave on July 2. The Dodgers canceled Bauer’s bobblehead night, which was scheduled for Aug. 19, and removed all of his merchandise from the team and online stores, saying it was “not deemed appropriate” given the investigations.
MLB can unilaterally place players on seven-day administrative leave under its domestic violence policy, but must seek MLBPA’s consent to extend it thereafter.
Bauer, a 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner as a member of the Cincinnati Reds, joined the Dodgers with a record three-year, $ 102 million contract in February that includes two opt-out clauses.
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