Steven Seagal’s Code of Honor restored as LA DA drops sex abuse claims

Before we get to the reason that action star Steven Seagal is no longer at the business END OF A GUN – proverbially speaking, of course – I'd like to share an observation made by JoBlo's own Alex Maidy about my choosen headline:

"You're a bit on the nose with that story title. But, I guess bad headlines are…..HARD TO KILL. The friggin District Attorney was OUT FOR JUSTICE and Seagal was MARKED FOR DEATH. I guess they thought he was ABOVE THE LAW. For a while he was ON DEADLY GROUND but they made an EXECUTIVE DECISION. He may be HALF PAST DEAD with EXIT WOUNDS, but he still has that FIRE DOWN BELOW. That is why he is THE GLIMMER MAN." Alex Maidy, ladies and gentlemen.

Earlier today, the office of  District Attorney of Los Angeles County Jackie Lacey announced that charges have been dropped against Steven Seagal for an alledged 2002 sexual assault. This is the second time this year that Seagal has swept the leg of a sex crimes investigation, this time on account of the statute of limitations having expired.

“The reporting party alleged that on or between May 1, 2002 and August 31, 2002, she was sexually assaulted by the suspect (redacted),” says the December 20 dated charge evaluation worksheet on the MACHETE actor from the D.A.’s office. “The case was previously declined for further investigation,” the one page document adds. "The results of the subsequent investigation did not yield evidence sufficient to meet the requirements of P.C. 803(f). Therefore, the case is declined due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.”

According to a report made by Deadline, the redacted victim in the latest case against Seagal is Faviola Dadis. She is the second woman to accuse the CONTRACT TO KILL actor of sexual misconduct, after Regina Simons opened a case against Seagal in March of this year. In the case of Dadis, she claimed that Seagal assaulted her during a “private” audition at the W Hotel in Beverly Hills approximately 16 years ago.

A statement was issued in early September regarding Dadis' case:

“The Los Angeles DA’s office recently notified my client Faviola Dadis and me that it would not prosecute Steven Seagal, who has been multiply accused of sexual assault, for her claim that he sexually assaulted her when she was seventeen years old,” Bloom told Deadline today. “The sole reason for its refusal is the statute of limitations, and California law’s requirement that the victim in this situation (reporting child sexual assault after the age of 21) have independent evidence that clearly and independently corroborates her claims.”

“We appreciate the DA’s office’s careful review of this case,” the lawyer added. “Its hands are tied by this unfair law which bars the courthouse door even to young women like my client, Faviola Dadis, who is highly credible. The law fails to recognize that few minors are emotionally ready to seek justice against their rapists until many years later. Instead, it offers rapists a “get out of jail free” card if they simply pass an arbitrary time deadline. And the law seems to presume that victims are lying, creating an unfairly high evidentiary standard not required in other criminal cases. Few rapists commit their crimes in the presence of witnesses.”

“I’m proud of my two clients, Faviola Dadis and Regina Simons, who have so bravely spoken out about their frightening experiences with Steven Seagal,” Bloom asserted. “I hope others will be inspired by their courage, as I am, and not be deterred by this setback.”

It's worth noting that California no longer has a statute of limitation for sex-related crimes. However, the 2016 law is not retroactive, and therfore does not apply to the charges issued against the FIRE DOWN BELOW action star.