The document Kenneth Petty wants to use to end Jennifer Hough’s civil case may be the thing that keeps it alive.
That’s the argument in Hough’s new court reply, which says the 1994 letter Petty calls proof of consent actually describes her being held against her will.
According to the filing, the letter states that Petty “wouldn’t let me” leave and that “if I would have sex with him, I can leave. So I did.” It also says Hough “didn’t want to have sex the second time,” language her lawyers say describes detention and pressure, not a willing encounter.
Petty’s side leaned on that letter in a September 10 filing. They say the purported recantation, which Petty claims Hough signed and had notarized, clashes with her current lawsuit and should knock out all four of her remaining claims.
Hough disputes writing it at all. Her lawyers argue Petty has to prove the document is hers before it can be used, and even then a judge can’t decide whose story is more believable without hearing the evidence.
Then there’s the plea. According to Hough’s filing, Petty admitted on April 5, 1995, that he attempted intercourse with Hough “by the means of forcible compulsion,” and that he “grabbed her and thrown her on to the bed and tried to rape her.”
The filing says he also admitted holding and using a long knife in the bedroom. Hough’s team argues that sworn testimony directly defeats any claim that the whole encounter was consensual. “The proposed motion should not delay trial,” her lawyers wrote.
The background here goes back three decades. Hough has accused Petty of attacking her in Queens in 1994 after confronting her at a bus stop, and he pleaded guilty to attempted rape, assault, unlawful imprisonment and weapon possession before serving four years in prison.
The lawsuit reaches well past 1994, though. Hough claims Petty and Nicki Minaj tried to get her to take back her allegations after Petty faced a California case for failing to register as a sex offender.
She alleges a childhood acquaintance known as Black contacted her in 2020 offering to connect her with the couple, later presenting $20,000 in cash and papers asking her to say she lied.
She also claims relatives were offered $500,000 for a recantation, and that the pressure pushed her to move from Georgia to Florida out of fear for herself and her children.
Petty tells a very different story. He denies threatening Hough or directing anyone to intimidate her. He argues she has no direct proof tying him to the later contacts and says some of her claims were filed too late.
Hough’s lawyers counter with his own testimony. They say Petty admitted giving an associate his wife’s phone number to pass along to Hough, which they argue shows he helped set up contact, even if a jury has to decide what came next.
For now, Hough wants the judge to reject Petty’s proposed motion or let both sides seek rulings at the same time. She’s also asking the court not to let things stall with the October 12 pretrial deadline coming up fast.
