Barry, accuser go public on charges

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By Sarah Abruzzese

The story behind the July Fourth arrest of Marion Barry devolved in competing press statements Monday into the kind of sordidly jumbled tale that seems to swirl around the former mayor.

A surrogate for the D.C. Council member came forward in the morning to explain the events of Saturday night, when Mr. Barry was arrested by U.S. Park Police after a female acquaintance accused him of stalking her in Anacostia Park.

The attorney for Mr. Barry said his client denies stalking anyone.

"We believe that the charge is baseless," attorney Frederick D. Cooke Jr. said at the news conference outside city hall. "We believe that the charge stems from a personal relationship that has gone horribly wrong in a lot of ways and has resulted in one party to that relationship striking out at Mr. Barry."

Mr. Barry attended the news conference but did not speak.

Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, the woman he is accused of stalking, said in a lengthy statement of her own that Mr. Barry has been stalking her -- but she seemed to deny that she asked officers to arrest him.

"It is senseless to publicly and 'officially' accuse Marion of stalking after having a meal with him an hour earlier," Mrs. Watts-Brighthaupt said in the rambling news release.

In the statement, she also bemoaned her daughter's delinquent private school tuition, recommended to all elected officials the Doris Kearns Goodwin book "Team of Rivals," and expressed her hope that a gay couple take up residence on her block.

She also referred to Mr. Barry's history with Park Police, which includes two other arrests in recent years.

Mr. Barry was arrested by a Park Police officer in 2002 after traces of marijuana and cocaine were found in his parked car at Buzzard Point.