Lawyers for David Letterman want a judge to quash a restraining order granted to a Santa Fe woman who contends the CBS late-night television host used code words to show he wanted to marry her and train her as his co-host.
A state judge granted a temporary restraining order to Colleen Nestler, who alleged in a request filed last Thursday 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 three yards (2,7m) away and not ”think of me, and release me from his mental harassment and hammering”.
Lawyers for Letterman, in a motion filed on Tuesday, contend the order is without merit and asked state District Judge Daniel Sanchez to quash it.
Letterman’s long-time Los Angeles lawyer, Jim Jackoway, said Nestler’s claims are ”obviously absurd and frivolous”.
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 Late Show began in 1993, and that he responded in code words and gestures, asking her to come East.
The motion to quash the order contends the court lacks jurisdiction over Letterman, that Nestler never served him with restraining order papers, and that she didn’t meet other procedural requirements. — Sapa-AP