Arnie bids to throw out libel suit

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s lawyer asked a judge in Los Angeles to throw out a libel lawsuit filed by a Hollywood stuntwoman who alleged the California governor groped her on film sets when he was an actor.

Judge Robert Hess heard two motions to dismiss Rhonda Miller’s lawsuit.

“Arnold Schwarzenegger never should have been sued in this case,” lawyer Martin Singer told the court. “It was an absolute lie. Pure fabrication. Why would this woman come forward 13 years after the alleged event, the day before the election, with a press conference?”

Miller, 53, claims Schwarzenegger and his campaign defamed her after she accused him of groping her on the sets of Terminator 2 and True Lies.

Miller made the allegations on October 6, the day before voters were to go the polls to decide whether to recall Democratic Governor Gray Davis.

Hours after she made the allegations, campaign spokesman Sean Walsh sent an e-mail to reporters directing them to a court web site, where records for a Rhonda Miller showed a history including prostitution and disorderly conduct. It was a different Rhonda Miller.

Miller’s lawyers said the stuntwoman had no arrests or convictions for such crimes.

“She stands by the allegation, and she stands by it under oath,” said Paul Hoffman, one of Miller’s lawyers.

During his campaign to replace Davis, 16 women accused Schwarzenegger of groping them in the past. Schwarzenegger acknowledged he had “behaved badly sometimes” in the past and did some things that “were not right, which I thought were playful.”

If the case does go to trial, Hoffman said, he would tell jurors that the Schwarzenegger campaign tried to undermine Miller’s credibility because her allegations came on the eve of the election and “they had to do something” before the next TV news cycle.

If Miller’s lawsuit is dismissed, she could face legal fees.

Last month, a judge ruled that Schwarzenegger will not have to give a deposition in the case.