SANTA
FE, N.M. - A state judge has
lifted a restraining order
granted to a Santa Fe woman
who accused talk-show host
David Letterman of using coded
words to show that he wanted
to marry her and train her
as his co-host.
udge Daniel Sanchez on Tuesday
granted a request by lawyers
for Letterman, host of CBS'
"Late Show," to
quash the temporary restraining
order that he earlier granted
to Colleen Nestler.
She alleged
in a request filed Dec. 15
that Letterman has forced
her to go bankrupt and caused
her "mental cruelty"
and "sleep deprivation"
since May 1994.
Nestler requested that Letterman,
who tapes his show in New
York, stay at least 3 yards
away and not "think of
me, and release me from his
mental harassment and hammering."
Lawyers
for Letterman contended the
order was without merit.
"He is entitled to a
protection of his legal rights
and a protection of his reputation,"
Pat Rogers, an Albuquerque
lawyer representing Letterman,
told the judge Tuesday.
The New Mexico court doesn't
have jurisdiction over Letterman,
who is a resident of Connecticut,
Rogers said.
Nestler
appeared in court without
a lawyer and represented herself.
Responding to a question from
the judge, Nestler said she
had no proof of the allegations
she had made against Letterman.
She also
said that if Letterman or
any of his representatives
came near her, "I will
break their legs" and
establish proof of her allegations.
Nestler said after the court
hearing that "I have
achieved my purpose. The public
knows that this man cannot
come near me."
She also
said that her comment about
breaking legs "is not
a threat."
"I
appealed to the court for
a restraining order to keep
this man away from me, but
now that's been denied me,"
she said. "He has access
to me. He can actually come
for me or send people. He
has many accomplices. I know
this sounds crazy. I was crazy
to have listened to him in
the beginning."
Nestler's application for
a restraining order was accompanied
by a six-page typed letter
in which she said Letterman
used code words, gestures
and "eye expressions"
to convey his desires for
her.
She wrote
that she began sending Letterman
"thoughts of love"
after his show began in 1993,
and that he responded in code
words and gestures, asking
her to come East.
Nestler
said Letterman asked her to
be his wife during a televised
"teaser" for his
show by saying, "Marry
me, Oprah." Her letter
said Oprah was the first of
many code names for her and
that the coded vocabulary
increased and changed with
time.
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