Woman says she felt need for protection from Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer intends to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and will answer no questions in the case of a woman seeking a five-year restraining order against him, his attorney said in court Wednesday.

Bauer's lawyer Shawn Holley told a judge the only questions he will answer are "his name and what he does for a living," and cited a pending criminal investigation by police in Pasadena, California.

The legal team seeking the order for a woman who says Bauer choked her into unconsciousness and punched her in two sexual encounters said that Bauer was the last remaining witness they intended to call at the hearing.

Holley asked Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman to allow Bauer to avoid taking the stand entirely, as defendants in criminal cases do.

Gould-Saltman adjourned the hearing for the day, saying she would read legal precedents provided by Holley and issue a decision Thursday morning. The judge may also issue her decision on the domestic violence restraining order on Thursday, after hearing final arguments from the two sides.

Bauer, who is fighting the order and has said through representatives that everything that happened between him and the 27-year-old San Diego woman was consensual, has attended all three days of the hearing and had been expected to take the stand.

Most of the hearing has consisted of testimony from the woman herself, along with brief appearances on the stand from the nurse who gave her a sexual assault exam after the second encounter, a doctor called by Bauer's team to analyze those findings, and the woman's best friend.

MLB conducting investigation

MLB is investigating the allegations and Bauer could face punishment under baseball's domestic violence policy. Police in Pasadena, California, where Bauer lives and where the two spent nights together in April and May, are also investigating.

Holley, Bauer's attorney, asked the woman why she felt she needed protection from Bauer when he had made no contact with her in nearly a month when she filed for the order.

"Did you have some reason to believe he was going to come to your house 130 miles away?" Holley asked.

"Yes, I did," she said.

Holley also pointed out lies that the woman acknowledged telling her closest friends in texts about when and where the meetings with Bauer happened.

Holley also asked the woman why she had acknowledged in messages that she was watching Bauer's games despite saying she wanted nothing to do with him.

"You have testified previously that you had to delete all your communications with him," Holley asked, "but you still wanted to watch him pitch, right?"

"Possibly," the woman answered.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault.

Bauer agreed to a $102 million US, three-year contract to join his hometown Dodgers earlier this year after winning his first Cy Young with the Cincinnati Reds last season.