Albert’s Lawyer Seeks Dismissal Of Charge

Marv Albert’s case should be dismissed because his indictment does not specifically say the sportscaster penetrated his accuser during oral sex, according to a defense motion.

Albert is accused of biting the back of a woman with whom he had a 10-year sexual relationship and forcing her to perform oral sex. His trial on forcible sodomy and assault and battery charges is to begin Monday, and he could be sentenced to up to life in prison if convicted.

Penetration is a key part of the crime of sodomy, defense lawyer Roy Black argued.

“The indictment completely fails to allege the essential element of penetration,” Black wrote in the motion. “This defect is fatal to the indictment and requires dismissal.”

The May 19 indictment charges that Albert “did by force, threat or intimidation engage in an act of sodomy, to wit: fellatio” with his accuser.

Sodomy, either forcible or consensual, is a crime in Virginia.

Arlington County prosecutors claim Albert attacked a 42-year-old Vienna, Va., woman during an encounter Feb. 12 in his room at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Albert, NBC’s lead basketball announcer, had broadcast a Washington Bullets game a few hours before the incident.

A source close to the case told The Associated Press shortly after Albert’s arrest in May that the woman claimed Albert became angry when she refused his request for three-way sex involving another man.