MIAMI -- Tennis star Martina Hingis should testify in person
against the man accused of stalking her at a South Florida tennis
tournament last year, a judge has ruled.
Hingis, who wanted to testify by closed-circuit television or
videotape, said in an affidavit that she didn't want to see
Dubravko Rajcevic in the courtroom because he scares her "and I
know that I would not be able to get his image out of my head."
But County Judge Kevin Emas ordered prosecutors Thursday to try
to bring Hingis to court to testify against Rajcevic, who is being
held on $2 million bail on a charge of misdemeanor stalking.
He scheduled Rajcevic's trial to begin April 2, the day after
Miami's Ericsson Open concludes, to make it easier for prosecutors
to secure the Swiss national's presence.
Prosecutors did not immediately return calls Friday seeking
comment, but Frank A. Abrams, Rajcevic's attorney, said his client
has a right to confront his accusers and that an exception should
not be made for Hingis. She is playing in the Australian Open and
neither she nor her representatives could immediately be reached
for comment Friday.
Rajcevic was arrested at last year's Ericsson after security
personnel asked him to leave the tournament following a complaint
by Hingis' mother. They told him not to come back.
He returned the next day, was arrested for stalking and released
on $1,000 bail. Two days later, he was again arrested after being
spotted at the tournament. His bail was upped to $2 million and he
has been in custody ever since.
Abrams said his client, who is almost 30 years older than the
20-year-old Hingis, has made no threats, but sent Hingis only love
letters and flowers.
Rajcevic, a Croatian-born engineer who is now an Australian
citizen, traveled to about five tennis tournaments around the world
where Hingis played, but he only yelled words of encouragement to
her, Abrams said. To Abram's knowledge, Hingis never told him to
leave her alone and would sometimes wave back when she saw him in
the stands.
"Where is the malice?" Abrams said. "Under Florida law, for
there to be stalking there has to be malice.
"In the history of mankind, men have pursued women and vice
versa and, no matter how implausible, that pursuit shouldn't be
sanctioned," Abrams said.
He has asked the Florida Supreme Court to lower Rajcevic's bail,
which he says is a record amount for a misdemeanor case.
Court-appointed therapists have determined Rajcevic is probably
schizophrenic and suffering from "fixed delusion."
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