Nathan Fletcher's lawyers filed court documents containing screenshots of texts between Grecia Figueroa and her friend Danielle Radin, in which the woman who sued Fletcher for sexual assault calls one of their encounters a "make out session" and says "I'm f****n in love."
The court documents include texts from the same days Figueroa claimed in her lawsuit Fletcher assaulted her, but the texts cast the incidences in a different light.
Previous coverage:
NBC 7 has previously reported on messages between Figueroa and Fletcher. Fletcher, who resigned from the County Board of Supervisors and ended his campaign for state Senate, has vehemently denied accusations of sexual assault or harassment and filed a cross complaint accusing Figueroa of defamation.
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In one of the text messages sent to Radin, Figueroa said she kissed Fletcher in May 2022, writing, "I feel like I just came out of the wildest dream I could have had, and idk how to feel about it. Omg it was great but at the same time it felt sooooo wrong. I have no words."
That same date was described in the original complaint against Fletcher. She said she was "shocked and confused" and referenced the power dynamic, as Fletcher was chair of the Metropolitan Transit System board, and Figueroa worked at MTS in public relations. The complaint alleges he "put his hands on her and kissed her."
The original complaint also describes an encounter in June 2022 at MTS headquarters, which Figueroa said in the complaint she was not comfortable with. However, the texts to Radin read: "Having a make out session was not in my plans today, but hey..what do I know anymore."
Radin replies: "That is like so hot though," to which Figueroa said, "It is," followed by three fire emojis.
In other texts, Figueroa said "so funny how we have to pretend in front of everyone we weren't passionately kissing just the other day" and "I'm so f****n in love."
Figueroa's attorney, John Holcomb Jr., said in a statement to NBC 7, "Ultimately, the jury will determine the significance of any particular message allowed to be introduced at trial in light of the entirety of the evidence."
Radin, the friend, worked at NBC 7 years before this case was filed. In a court document opposing a call from Fletcher's attorneys to subpoena her business records, she said "In the course of my investigative work, I have uncovered information regarding Mr. Fletcher's conduct that was of significant public interest due to his position as a politician." Her attorney declined to comment on the record.
"I think it's time that that narrative gets switched because the harm that she's done is not just to Mr. Fletcher, but it's harm to actual victims of these things that now may not be believed," said Fletcher's attorney, Sam Sherman. "Ms. Figueroa has painted herself as the victim in this case. And I think that what these messages are showing is that she was never the victim."
