| By KEN THOMAS - Associated Press Writer
MIAMI (AP) -- Martina Hingis' stalker, ``humiliated'' that a prosecutor who helped send him to jail is now courting the tennis star, plans to appeal his conviction.
Frank Abrams, a lawyer for Dubravko Rajcevic, said his client is ``incredulous, humiliated and embarrassed'' after learning that assistant state attorney Chris Calkin has a personal relationship with Hingis and plans to visit her in Zurich and at next week's Wimbledon tournament.
``Not only has the prosecutor put him in a jail and fought for the longest possible jail sentence, he's also kicked him in the rear end and taken away the woman he was pursuing,'' Abrams said.
Abrams said he would file motions this week asking a judge to vacate Rajcevic's conviction and two-year jail sentence.
He also wants to subpoena phone records of Hingis and Calkin and depose the pair and Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle about the relationship.
Police arrested Rajcevic, 46, at the Ericsson Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne on March 30, 2000. Police said the Croatian-born naval architect had pursued Hingis for a year, showing up at her home in Switzerland, calling her at hotels in various countries and faxing her love letters.
Hingis was Calkin's star witness in Rajcevic's three-day trial, which ended April 3 when a jury convicted him of misdemeanor stalking and trespassing.
Calkin, 31, has said his relationship with Hingis, 20, remained strictly professional until after the case was resolved. He denied any impropriety and said he told his boss about the relationship.
Ed Griffith, a spokesman for Miami-Dade state attorney's office, said Rundle and Calkin were both out of town and could not be reached for comment. Griffith also refused to comment.
A spokeswoman for Hingis said the relationship did not begin until after the case was completed.
``They have a friendship,'' said Lisa Chaffey, a Hingis spokeswoman. ``The friendship didn't start until after the case.''
Calkin said and Hingis became friends after Rajcevic was sentenced April 12.
``She's a fabulous lady,'' Calkin told The Miami Herald on Saturday. ``I'm happier than I've ever been.'' |