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Newsbrief:
Alabama
Rape
Victim
Ordered
to
Provide
Urine
Sample
for
Drug
Test
8/2/02
A Saraland, Alabama, woman
who filed a rape complaint after a 4th of July date turned ugly was ordered
to provide a urine sample for a drug test in Mobile County District Court
on July 9. The order came after Judge Delano Palughi ruled favorably
on a defense motion asking the court to force the accuser to submit to
a drug test. Defense attorney Rick Yelverton, representing 26-year-old
Emanuel DeWitt, implied that the woman could have been under the influence
of drugs at the time of the alleged rape. Yelverton argued that if
the woman was on drugs when the incident occurred, the test results could
go "to her character and to her ability to recall what happened that night."
But while a urine sample
from the woman was provided, it has not been tested. After hearing
furious objections from prosecutors, Mobile Circuit Court Judge Joseph
"Rusty" Johnston ruled on July 25 that the sample would not be tested now,
but would be turned over to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.
Johnston refused to order the urine sample destroyed, saying he wanted
it preserved as possible evidence in the case.
Prosecutor Ashley Rich, lamenting
that such a precedent could deter other victims from coming forward, moved
to have Johnston overturn Palughi's earlier order. "The victim is
not on trial here," she wrote in her motion to vacate the order, "and the
fact of whether or not the victim was under the influence of controlled
substances at the time of the rape has no relevance to whether or not she
was raped."
At a news conference outside
the courtroom, Rich added that forcing a victim of a crime to take a drug
test "sends a message to other victims." A nurse or other state employee,
for example, might not report a crime if she feared being tested for drugs
and possibly losing her job. "We're very concerned," she said.
-- END --
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Issue #248, 8/2/02
Editorial: Getting from Here to There | Despite Supreme Court Ruling, No Wave of High School Drug Testing Foreseen | US Prison Population Leveling Off, Feds Drive Small Increase | Needle Exchange 2002:00:00 A Long Way Traveled, A Long Way to Go | Baltimore Killings Continue as Politicians Continue to Ignore Role of Prohibition | Stossel Special Spurs War of Letters to ABC | Newsbrief: Cooking Speed Equals Child Abuse Under New Tennessee Law | Massachusetts Governor Vetoes Decriminalization Provisions | Newsbrief: Afghan Crop Report Says Opium Eradication a Joke | Newsbrief: Leading British Comedian Says Legalize It All | Newsbrief: Alabama Rape Victim Ordered to Provide Urine Sample for Drug Test | Newsbrief: Tennessee School Board Ordered to Back Off on Zero Tolerance -- Right to Public Education at Issue | Newsbrief: Seattle Marijuana Enforcement Initiative Signatures Submitted | Web Scan: CriminalDefense.com, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Harry Levine, Ethan Nadelmann, Medical Marijuana Research, School Daily | Legislative Alerts: Rave Bill, Medical Marijuana, Higher Education Act Drug Provision | The Reformer's Calendar
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