Judge to deliver verdict Sunday in Steubenville Ohio rape case

[Honeycombe8]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/17/justice/ohio-steubenville-case/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+Most+Recent%29

Steubenville: A judge is expected to hand down a decision Sunday morning in the trial of two Steubenville star high school football players accused of raping an allegedly drunk 16-year-old.

Judge Thomas Lipps said he will announce his decision after reviewing evidence presented over four days of testimony in the case against 17-year-old Trent Mays and 16-year-old Ma'lik Richmond.

The ruling will bring an end to a trial that has gained national attention for its lurid text messages, cell phone pictures and videos, and social media posts surrounding the alleged sexual abuse of the girl.
Mays and Richmond are accused of raping the girl during a series of end-of-summer parties in August 2012.

According to prosecutors, Richmond and Mays each penetrated the alleged victim's vagina with their fingers, an act that constitutes rape under Ohio law if it is not consensual.

Mays is additionally charged with disseminating a nude photo of a minor. Attorneys for the two boys say they are not guilty.

CNN's policy is not to identify alleged victims of sexual assault. CNN is not naming the minors who are testifying but is identifying Mays and Richmond, whose names have been used by court officials, their attorneys and in multiple media accounts.

At the heart of the case is the question of whether the alleged victim was too drunk on the night of August 11 and the early morning of August 12 to understand what was happening to her and to consent.

Trial focuses on text messages

The alleged victim testified Saturday that she remembered little about the night because she was drunk.

During closing statements on Saturday, attorneys for the two boys argued the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that their clients raped the girl, calling into question the alleged victim's credibility.

They also questioned whether an avalanche of cell pictures and videos, and social media posts available in the days after the alleged rape as well national media coverage ahead of the trial tainted testimony.

But prosecutors told the judge there is no question the girl was "substantially impaired."

"The things that made her an imperfect witness -- that she doesn't remember a lot -- made her in every sense of the word a perfect victim," prosecutor Marianne Hemmeter said.

The girl testified Saturday that she remembered drinking at the first big party of the night and then holding Mays' hand as she left with him, Richmond and others.

The next thing she remembers, she told the court, was waking up in the morning naked on a couch in an unfamiliar house. She covered herself with a blanket while she looked for her clothes. She testified she could not find her underwear, earrings or cell phone.
(snip)
Mays and Richmond are being tried before Lipps, a visiting judge, without a jury. The trial is moving quickly -- and through the weekend -- to accommodate the schedule of the judge.

If the two boys are convicted of the juvenile charges, they face the possibility of being jailed until they are 21.
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A pretty light sentence, but I guess because they're minors. And I suppose it won't be on their records? But it'll be interesting to see if they're found guilty. I read some of the testimony reading the cell phone texts and descriptions of the pics sent around...there were hundreds of texts sent among the students bragging about the incidents of that night. It was disgusting and horrifying to know that seemingly normal young men would do these things. One light in the tunnel was one young man who'd received a text and texted back to Mays that that was so wrong and what was he thinking. He was the only young man who recognized the wrong behavior and said something about it.

[Honeycombe8]

1. So no one cares much about this case, any more? nt

[kdmorris]

2. Most people are probably recovering from their St. Patty's Day parties :)

oh, and bump

I'll be looking for the sentence to be handed down today.