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Edited
By Jonathan Cohen. April 17,
2003, 10:55 AM ET
Spears
To Drop
'Stalking'
Case
 |
Britney
Spears
will
drop
her bid
for a
restraining
order
against
the Japanese
man she
claimed
had stalked
her after
lawyers
for the
two sides
reached
an agreement,
a Los
Angeles
court
spokesperson
said
yesterday
(April
16).
Attorneys
for the
21-year-old
singer
were
expected
to file
court
papers
tomorrow
asking
that
the case
be dismissed,
the spokesperson
said,
but were
not expected
to release
details
of the
out-of-court
agreement.
A spokesperson
for Spears
could
not be
reached
for comment.
Lawyers
for Spears
and Shizawa
also
could
not be
reached.
Spears
went
to court
in December
to request
that
41-year-old
Masahiko
Shizawa
of Yokohama,
Japan,
be ordered
to stay
at least
1,000
yards
away
and claiming
that
he had
been "stalking" her
for months.
Spears
asserted
in court
papers
that
Shizawa
had sent
her hundreds
of love
notes,
many
with
photographs
of himself
and one
that
said: "I'm
chasing
you." The Louisiana-born superstar also alleged that Shizawa had tracked her to the
homes
of her
divorced
parents,
her Hollywood
home,
and a
third
residence.
But during
a brief
January
court
hearing,
Shizawa's
lawyer
called
the stalking
allegations
a "cultural
misunderstanding" and insisted that his client -- reportedly a computer programmer -- had no intent
to bother
Spears.
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