THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 5, 1996 TAG: 9603050243
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: METRO BRIEFS
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 30 lines
A federal judge heard arguments Monday on whether Raymond Holder's constitutional rights were violated when he was arrested and held in jail for nearly nine months for a rape he did not commit.
The judge will probably issue a finding this week, Holder's attorney, Stephen J. Burgess, said Monday. If he finds Holder's rights were not violated, the lawsuit - against three police officers and the city of Portsmouth - will return to the state Circuit Court where it originated.
There, the issues will be false imprisonment, infliction of emotional distress and defamation, his attorney said. If U.S. District Court Judge Robert G. Doumar decides Holder's claims have merit, the case will proceed to trial in federal court April 2.
Holder was arrested on Aug. 25, 1993, after a 12-year-old girl saw him on the street and identified him as the man who had raped her 10 days earlier.
Holder contends the arrest was made despite information that he did not match the girl's original description of the rapist.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT by CNB