MADISON, INDIANA - Three women are fighting a slow legal battle against the city of Madison nearly three years after they were strip-searched as high school seniors.
Kristy Lessley, Kara Rhodehamel and Kayla Messer are suing the city, several city officials, former Police Chief Robert Wolf and four police officers. They claim they were illegally strip-searched and confined in a Jan. 19, 2007, incident while they were seniors at Madison Consolidated High School.
Court records say police surrounded the women's car that night and began questioning them after smelling marijuana in the car.
Although the officers reported finding bits of marijuana in the car, the suit claims none was ever placed into evidence.
After the vehicle search, an officer drove the three women to a nearby fire station, where a female officer separately strip-searched each girl.
Police reported recovering a small bag of marijuana from Lessley. She was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession, but prosecutors later dropped the charge.
The suit says police provided conflicting accounts after the incident about whether the teens were read their rights or consented to searches of their car and purses.
The case was later expanded to include accusations that Wolf and others knowingly withheld key documents and destroyed evidence of police misconduct. Those claims prompted two sanctions from a federal judge, resulting in fines for the city and police representatives.
The case is pending in U.S. District Court in New Albany. No trial date has been set. A previous date was postponed while a judge newly appointed to the case is brought up to speed.
U.S. District Judge David Hamilton, who was initially handling the case, was nominated by President Barack Obama to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.
Messer, Rhodehamel and Lessley said they've mostly moved on with their lives and are focused on making sure nothing like it happens again.
"I really want people to understand that this could happen to anyone," Rhodehamel said. "There needs to be some sort of stop to it."
News Hawk- Weedpipe 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Chicago Tribune
Contact: Chicago Tribune
Copyright: 2010 Associated Press
Website:Lawsuit over 2007 strip search drags on in Madison
Kristy Lessley, Kara Rhodehamel and Kayla Messer are suing the city, several city officials, former Police Chief Robert Wolf and four police officers. They claim they were illegally strip-searched and confined in a Jan. 19, 2007, incident while they were seniors at Madison Consolidated High School.
Court records say police surrounded the women's car that night and began questioning them after smelling marijuana in the car.
Although the officers reported finding bits of marijuana in the car, the suit claims none was ever placed into evidence.
After the vehicle search, an officer drove the three women to a nearby fire station, where a female officer separately strip-searched each girl.
Police reported recovering a small bag of marijuana from Lessley. She was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession, but prosecutors later dropped the charge.
The suit says police provided conflicting accounts after the incident about whether the teens were read their rights or consented to searches of their car and purses.
The case was later expanded to include accusations that Wolf and others knowingly withheld key documents and destroyed evidence of police misconduct. Those claims prompted two sanctions from a federal judge, resulting in fines for the city and police representatives.
The case is pending in U.S. District Court in New Albany. No trial date has been set. A previous date was postponed while a judge newly appointed to the case is brought up to speed.
U.S. District Judge David Hamilton, who was initially handling the case, was nominated by President Barack Obama to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.
Messer, Rhodehamel and Lessley said they've mostly moved on with their lives and are focused on making sure nothing like it happens again.
"I really want people to understand that this could happen to anyone," Rhodehamel said. "There needs to be some sort of stop to it."
News Hawk- Weedpipe 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Chicago Tribune
Contact: Chicago Tribune
Copyright: 2010 Associated Press
Website:Lawsuit over 2007 strip search drags on in Madison
