Steubenville Rape Trial: Alleged victim is now expected to testify

Jefferson County sheriff Fred Abdalla addresses the crowd at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Steubenville, Ohio on Jan. 5, 2013.

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Thomas Ondrey,AP Photo/The Plain Dealer

(CBS/AP) - The teen girl who has accused two Ohio high school football players of sexually assaulting her while she was intoxicated during a night of partying last August is expected to take the stand after a judge reversed an earlier ruling, according to attorneys for the accused.

Ma’Lik Richmond, 16, and Trent Mays, 17, are accused of sexually assaulting the 16-year-old girl twice – once in the back seat of a car, and once in a basement – on the night of August 11, 2012.

The alleged victim reportedly has no recollection of the night, but Richmond’s attorney told Crimesider that the Ohio judge in the case considered her and two of her friends “material and essential witnesses,” and issued subpoenas for them to testify. The girls live across the river from Steubenville, in the state of West Virginia, and a judge in that state had ruled they need not comply with the subpoenas because they were juveniles.

On Tuesday, Madison, and the attorney representing Mays, filed to have the case against their clients dismissed, arguing that their due process would be violated if such crucial witnesses were not called to testify. But this morning, the West Virginia judge reversed his ruling and the case is now expected to go forward.

Complete coverage of the Steubenville Rape Case on Crimesider

Source:
http://www.news.ezonearticle.com/2013/03/13/steubenville-rape-trial-alleged-victim-is-now-expected-to-testify/