Letterman Case Dismissed

The judge has no comment on the case.

Judge Sanchez signed an order last week requiring the star of CBS' 'Late Show with David Letterman' to stay at least 100 feet away from Colleen Nestler, the Santa Fe woman who petitioned for the order. She alleged in a rambling diatribe that Letterman and other TV personalities, including Regis Philbin and Kelsey Grammar, have been secretly communicating with her on television via secret code.

Nestler also claims Letterman forced her to go bankrupt and caused her "mental cruelty" and "sleep deprivation" since May 1994.

Nestler said after the court hearing that "I have achieved my purpose. The public knows that this man cannot come near me."

She also said that her comment about breaking legs "is not a threat."

"I appealed to the court for a restraining order to keep this man away from me, but now that's been denied me," she said. "He has access to me. He can actually come for me or send people. He has many accomplices. I know this sounds crazy. I was crazy to have listened to him in the beginning."

The judge granted the order ex parte, which means neither Letterman nor his lawyers were present to rebut the allegations.

Letterman's attorneys since filed papers with the judge asking to terminate the restraining order, calling Nestler's allegations "frivolous on their face."

One lawyer who has appeared many times before the Judge says Sanchez "does not know the law well" and often doesn't read legal documents submitted by lawyers. The buzz around town was that Sanchez probably never even read the documents in question, though one reporter said the Judge insisted he read everything before issuing the order. Legal experts say if that's true, it's even more troubling than if he didn't read the documents.

Judge Sanchez was quoted as saying that if an applicant makes a proper allegation that merits an order, he signs it. TMZ was told that Judge Sanchez consistently scored poorly in opinion polls with Santa Fe lawyers.