Trainer Ari Herbertson lost a civil rape case and will owe the unnamed plaintiff $9 million, according to an email from Diane Rames, law office administrator at the Oakland firm Gwilliam Ivary Chiosso Cavalli & Brewer, APC.
According to the firm's email, Jane Doe was attending live racing at Golden Gate on Jan. 12, 2019 when she was drugged and raped by Herbertson. The latter was first criminally prosecuted and plead no contest to a lesser charge of assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to one-year incarceration and two years' probation in that case before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Brand ruled in the civil case Jan. 17. The civil action alleged various torts related to the rape. Judge Brand awarded the defendant $3 million in general damages and $6 million in punitive damages.
“I commend Jane Doe for pursuing her civil case,” said attorney Randall Strauss of Gwilliam Ivary Chiosso Cavalli & Brewer, who represented the plaintiff throughout her civil case. “She was viciously and violently attacked, yet she was unafraid to pursue her attacker in court. Her bravery helps send a message that our society will not tolerate sexual battery and will work to seek justice for victims of sexual abuse.”
According to equineline.com, Herbertson trained from 2016-21 and compiled a record of 134 wins from 447 starts. Click to see a copy of the court order.
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