Woman Who Accused Nelly of Rape Wants to Drop Case, Will Not Testify

The woman who accused rapper Nelly of raping her on a tour bus in Washington State last weekend wants to drop criminal charges and will not testify in court. The woman's lawyer, Karen Koehler, wrote that her client "wishes she had not called 911 because she believes the system is going to fail her."

In an open letter detailing the investigation, Koehler wrote, "We do not live in a society where a 21 year old college student can feel safe enough to pursue criminal charges against a celebrity for an alleged rape." She claimed that police bungled parts of the investigation, making promises to her client that were quickly broken.

"One day, maybe our world will change and thirty women will not be needed to (eventually) speak out against a celebrity who has hurt them in order to be believed," she wrote in apparent reference to this week's revelations about Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. "But that day has not yet come."

Scott Rosenblaum, one of Nelly's lawyers, told the New York Times that the woman's decision to drop criminal charges came as "welcome news," though he claimed that it was "simply not enough." Rosenblaum maintained that it was a "reckless allegation" and insisted that he would encourage Nelly to pursue "whatever legal options are available to him."

The Auburn Police department said that the case would not be brought to a close because of the woman's intention not to pursue criminal charges or testify in court. We're not going to just halt the investigation," he told the Times. "We're still investigating the case, and it's probably going to be referred to the prosecutor's office sometime next week."

Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Iral Haynes Jr., was arrested last Saturday after the alleged sexual assault following a show in Auburn, Washington.

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