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Alyallen · Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 9:08 am Post subject:

Here's a very interesting turn in this issue. The rape accuser is suing the judge!

Woman sues judge for banning words

Sat Sep 8, 3:11 PM ET

LINCOLN, Neb. - The accuser in a sexual assault case is suing a judge because he barred the word "rape" and other words from the trial.

The federal court complaint filed Thursday claims Lancaster County District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront violated the accuser's First Amendment right to free speech by barring her from saying words including "rape," "victim" and "assailant" during the trial of Pamir Safi.

Safi, 34, was charged with first-degree sexual assault stemming from an encounter between him and Tory Bowen, 24, at his apartment the morning of Oct. 31, 2004.

Safi said he and Bowen, who met at a bar the night before, had consensual sex.

Bowen says she was too intoxicated to give consent.

In restricting language, Cheuvront said he was concerned that Safi's constitutional right to a fair trial might be jeopardized if witnesses were permitted to use the banned words in their testimony.

The language restrictions, which also barred the use of the words "sexual assault," were in effect for Safi's first trial, in November.

Bowen testified then for nearly 13 hours, and said the ban had a marked effect because she had to pause and make sure her words wouldn't violate the ban.

Cheuvront declared a mistrial after the jury deadlocked 7-5. He declared a second mistrial in July during jury selection, citing news coverage and public protests on behalf of Bowen.

Lancaster County prosecutors have said they plan to seek a third trial.

The Associated Press usually does not identify accusers in sex-assault cases, but Bowen has allowed her name to be used publicly because of the issue over the judge's language restrictions.

http://tinyurl.com/ywpkck

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

Nebraska has women???

The_Conservative · Joined: 15 Mar 2007

The_Conservative · Joined: 15 Mar 2007

And while we are on the subject...you do know that blue and red states do change colour quite a bit and have over the past decades? So it is essentially a meaningless comparision. Not only that but those problems in the so called red states predate the current Republian adminstration by quite some time, even when certain of them were blue.

jkelly80 · Joined: 13 Jun 2007 Location: you boys like mexico?

Alyallen · Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 5:57 pm Post subject:

Suit tossed vs. judge who banned words

By ANNA JO BRATTON, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 58 minutes ago

OMAHA, Neb. - A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against a state judge who barred anyone from saying "rape" or "victim" during a criminal trial, ruling Tuesday that the accuser failed to prove that he should intervene.

U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf also determined Tory Bowen didn't provide enough evidence to show her lawsuit against Lancaster County District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront wasn't frivolous.

Bowen, 24, filed a complaint earlier this month against Cheuvront, saying he violated her free speech rights by barring the words, along with the phrase "sexual assault," from the trial of Pamir Safi last November. Cheuvront said he banned the language because was concerned about Safi's right to a fair trial.

Kopf said he could not imagine a jury being swayed because a woman uses the word "raped" instead of "some tortured equivalent for the word," but he said that wasn't his decision to make.

Earlier this month, Kopf said he was concerned that the purpose of Bowen's lawsuit was to force Cheuvront to recuse himself from the criminal case.

"Make no mistake ... the plaintiff wants me to jump right into the middle of the pending state criminal case and the upcoming third trial," Kopf wrote Tuesday.

Safi, 34, is charged with first-degree sexual assault. He said he and Bowen met at a bar and had consensual sex in October 2004. She said she was too intoxicated to give consent.

Bowen said the ban hindered her testimony during the trial because she had to pause to make sure she didn't use the barred words.

Cheuvront declared a mistrial after the jury deadlocked 7-5. He declared a second mistrial in July during jury selection, citing news coverage and public protests on behalf of Bowen. Prosecutors have said they plan to seek a third trial.

A message left Tuesday for Bowen's attorney, Wendy Murphy, wasn't immediately returned. A message left for Cheuvront's bailiff wasn't returned. Judicial guidelines typically bar judges from commenting on current cases.

The Associated Press usually does not identify accusers in sex-assault cases, but Bowen has allowed her name to be used publicly because of the issue over the judge's language restrictions.

http://tinyurl.com/3yryo6