Attorney Richard Wright discusses the decision by client Chrissy Mazzeo to seek a complete investigation of her allegations against Rep. Jim Gibbons, the Republican candidate for governor, after Wright's Sunday afternoon meeting with Mazzeo. Photo by Ralph Fountain. THE MAIN PLAYERS Jim Gibbons Candidate for governor says parking garage video exonerates him Chrissy Mazzeo Gibbons' accuser denies political motivation THE LAWYERS Richard Wright Representing Mazzeo on pro bono basis Don Campbell Gibbons lawyer seeks immediate release of surveillance tapes

Cocktail waitress Chrissy Mazzeo will press forward and formally request that authorities investigate her allegations that Rep. Jim Gibbons assaulted her, the woman's lawyer said Sunday.

"I will be going to the district attorney first thing in the morning to find out how to proceed," said Richard Wright, the attorney representing the 32-year-old single mother. Mazzeo will give "absolute total cooperation in a thorough investigation," Wright said.

He said she will sign a criminal complaint against Gibbons, if necessary. Sheriff Bill Young said last week that his officers would investigate her allegation "to the nth degree" if she signed a criminal complaint.

"Whatever it takes," Wright said Sunday. "That's a formality. They need her signature on something. ... If that's the requisite, of course it would be done."

Mazzeo was distraught when she learned of media reports over the weekend stating that surveillance tapes at the parking garage where she said the assault occurred didn't include any footage of her or Gibbons, but those reports "steeled her resolve" to pursue a full investigation, Wright said.

On Saturday, sources told the Review-Journal that the Metropolitan Police Department had received and reviewed surveillance tapes from the parking garage where Mazzeo alleges the 61-year-old Republican gubernatorial candidate assaulted her.

Although police said in mid-October that they had been told the tapes did not exist, they received the tapes at the end of last week from the company that owns Hughes Center, the complex where the parking garage is located, sources said.

The footage was recorded by about 12 security cameras over at least two hours on Oct. 13, when Mazzeo alleges the assault occurred after Gibbons and she met at a nearby restaurant.

The tapes do not show Gibbons or Mazzeo inside the garage, sources said.

Wright said that if the tapes are unaltered and contain footage from the correct time and location, "they will show what she says happened." If not, he said, "it's not the right tapes, or the tapes are altered."

Wright on Sunday reiterated his concerns about the objectivity of the Metropolitan Police Department in investigating this case. Young, a Republican, has endorsed Gibbons for governor and was the first law enforcement official to contact Gibbons after the incident.

"Before these tapes mysteriously were dropped into their laps, I already stated I had serious concerns about their objectivity, and I will address those with the district attorney," Wright said. "When the sheriff comes out as a cheerleader for the accused and questions the integrity of the accuser and then says we will really investigate it this time, I have concerns about it. But that being said, whatever it takes to get it thoroughly, properly, and vigorously investigated."

Mazzeo has told Wright that she had no complaints about the detectives who interviewed her and conducted the initial investigation, which ended when she said she didn't want to press charges.

"All she wants is the police to do their job," Wright said.

Mazzeo has accused Gibbons of assaulting her inside the parking garage after the two were drinking at McCormick & Schmick's with four other people, including political adviser Sig Rogich.

According to Gibbons' statements to police, Gibbons left the restaurant after 10 p.m. and was followed about 20 minutes later by Mazzeo, who had been drinking and was searching for her car.

Gibbons, who was staying at a nearby Residence Inn in the Hughes Center on Flamingo Road, offered to help Mazzeo find her car. Mazzeo alleged that Gibbons walked her to the parking garage and, once inside the garage, grabbed her arms, shoved her against a wall and threatened her. She told police that she ran away after three teens walked past.

Gibbons said that he was walking Mazzeo to the garage when she tripped and that he tried to catch her. The two then parted ways, Gibbons told police. Mazzeo denied tripping.

Afterward, Mazzeo called 911 three times to report the incident. During the third 911 call, she made numerous references to the security cameras inside the garage.

According to a police report on the incident, an officer contacted a Hughes Center security guard identified only as "Aaron" and learned that though the parking garage has surveillance cameras, "they were not recording at the time of the incident."

A day after making the accusations, Mazzeo told police she didn't want to press charges "'cause of who he (Gibbons) is and I just don't want to go up against something like that," according to the police report.

Mazzeo said last week that people she believes are connected to Gibbons' campaign threatened her and tried to buy her silence.

Pennie Puhek, the woman Mazzeo accused of relaying threats from Gibbons' camp, denied the allegations and questioned Mazzeo's sanity.

The news that Mazzeo wanted police to go forward with the investigation came as Republicans were claiming vindication for their embattled gubernatorial candidate and demanding an apology from the media.

Paul Adams, chairman of the state Republican Party, called for the tapes to be released to the public to clear Gibbons' name.

"It is imperative that these tapes get released soon," Adams said in a statement. "Jim Gibbons' name has been dragged through the mud in the past two weeks with the media's unhinged sensationalism of this story. Metro has an obligation to give Gibbons the opportunity to clear his name."

But it is unclear whether the tapes will be released to the public. In the past, the police department has withheld releasing certain information and evidence involved in an investigation. Reports involved in the Gibbons and Mazzeo case were released after Mazzeo signed paperwork stating she didn't want to press charges against Gibbons.

Gibbons' campaign manager, Robert Uithoven, said he believed Mazzeo's complaint was being filed to suppress release of the tapes.

"We've been told that Metro has reviewed 18 hours of surveillance tapes that prove that Jim Gibbons was never in that garage, and interestingly, neither was she," Uithoven said.

"Her entire story is a lie. It's a complete fabrication, and now her legal team, made up of (Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dina) Titus supporters, is trying to cover it up by filing this complaint."

Wright and his partner, attorney Karen Winckler, both have contributed to the Titus campaign. Wright and Winckler said Sunday that they had not been contacted by the Titus campaign and that, to their knowledge, neither has Mazzeo.

Mazzeo describes herself as so uninterested in politics that she is not registered to vote and didn't know who Gibbons was when she met him.

Wright, who is representing Mazzeo pro bono, said Sunday that at least one concerned citizen has sent a check for $100 to help in her defense. He would not say who the citizen was.

Gibbons' lawyer, Don Campbell, said he will file an "emergency application" today to seek the release of the tapes.

"We will demand that these tapes be made available to the media and the public immediately," Uithoven said.

Mazzeo's decision to go forward is "purely political," Uithoven said. "They find out these tapes exist, and they know they've got a problem. We'll see if their story holds up when they're under oath in court."

Gibbons told the Review-Journal on Saturday that the tapes vindicate him. "Thank God they found the tapes," he said. "My reputation, I feel, has been restored with these tapes."

Wright questioned the timing of statements about the tapes by Gibbons, his lawyer and his campaign manager.

"If there was evidence out there to exonerate him and disprove (Mazzeo), it seems to me they would have wanted these tapes to come out immediately as opposed to them trickling out two weeks later," he said.