Cary Goldstein, whose aggressive tactics often irked the Giles team, wrote in court papers that he and his client, Cheri Olvera, "are not able to communicate effectively." He also said Olvera has not complied with certain terms of their retainer agreement.

Giles' attorney, James Scott, said in an e-mail yesterday that "no doubt the witness statements revealed in our investigation provided motivation to Mr. Goldstein to drop this like a hot potato."

"We, as a culture, find it easy to prejudge or even condemn just from the nature of some nasty claims," Scott wrote. "The real victim is the guy suffering from the unequal or unlevel playing field. He has to 'prove a negative' that it didn't happen. We have done that in discovery as to the worst of Ms. Olvera's allegations.