Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 24, 1995 TAG: 9503240131
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH HUNTLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Roanoke County Circuit Judge Jack B. Coulter was ready to dismiss the case when he came back into the courtroom Thursday afternoon, but he was visibly shaken.
``Boy,'' he muttered, shaking his head as he took his seat. He looked at the anxious crowd and paused before he spoke.
``It's an awesome responsibility thrust upon a human being to pass judgment in a case of this nature,'' he said. ``There just isn't enough proof to sustain the burden that the commonwealth has to establish.''
The dismissal, which came halfway through the defense's presentation, followed two days of testimony that included emotional accusations, adamant denials and lengthy expert explanations of how children develop memories.
On one side was the defendant, a 44-year-old Blue Ridge man who was charged with aggravated sexual assault. On the other side was his accuser, a 20-year-old Roanoke County woman who says she was molested when she was 8.
The woman testified that the defendant fondled her in 1983, while he was teaching her how to play chess at his home. She detailed the entire scene, including descriptions of the coffee table and the chess set.
The defendant ``was seated beside me on my right, if my memory serves me correctly, and he put his hand down my pants and touched my private parts,'' she said.
Neither the woman nor the defendant is being identified. The defendant's name is being withheld because no story identifying him previously had been published about the case, and because the charges have been dismissed.
On another occasion, the woman said, she encountered the defendant, naked, in his hallway. She said she didn't know whether he abused her then.
``I can remember walking into his home. I can remember [the defendant] being naked in the hallway ... and I can remember a shower running,'' she said. ``Then I have this blank spot. It's just black. The last thing I can remember is me crying and running home.''
Though she acknowledged having ``blank memories,'' the woman said they didn't make her any less certain of her testimony.
``I feel like the man did more horrendous things to me than I can remember at this point. There are certain things in your brain that let you know about this when you can handle it, and maybe I just can't handle it,'' she said.
That is especially true of memories that were developed during childhood, according to an expert witness who testified on behalf of the defense and outlined the ways humans mature in their ability to remember events.
Isaac VanPatten, who owns Forensics Specialties and researches human behavior, told the court that children are not born with the ability to retain memories.
There are several elements that make up a memory, and children grasp some of the factors more easily than others. Children usually recall people in their past without much difficulty, VanPatten said, but the what, where and when in childhood recollections are more complicated.
``It is not until approximately mid-adolescence that children fully develop their ability to master time sequences,'' he said.
Children's memories can be made more sketchy if traumatic events are occurring in their lives at the time they mentally record them. Children who have suffered from sexual abuse have an especially hard time recording memories completely and accurately, he said.
``They may make the assumptive belief that they are being abused or that they are about to be abused again'' even if they aren't, VanPatten said.
``The individual attempts to fill in the gaps with what they expected to happen. Whether they are being abused again or not, the memory will be encoded as abuse ... It is not that the person is telling a lie. They would report it as if a real event.''
The defense attempted to show that the woman in this case fit that profile. Defense attorney Terry Grimes put a sexual assault counselor on the stand who testified that the woman told her she had been abused by two teen-age boys around the same time as the chess incident.
But the prosecution's case also got some help from the expert. Though the woman did not report the abuse to police for 11 years, she did tell her best friend, who was also 8. The fact that her story then matches the memories she has today suggests that her recollections are accurate, VanPatten said.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Leach reminded the judge of this testimony before the case was dismissed.
He also referred to testimony from the woman's mother and pediatrician, who said he treated the woman when she was 8 for bruises in the vaginal area. Reading from his records, Dr. F. Joseph Duckwall, a pediatrician, told the court he asked the child whether she had been abused, but she told him she had been injured because the seat on her BMX bicycle was too high.
``It is more than just [her] word against'' the defendant's, Leach told Coulter. ``We had a documented injury.''
Nonetheless, the judge said the commonwealth needed more proof. After telling the woman his decision behind closed doors, he addressed the courtroom.
``I'm not believing or disbelieving either person ... . There is just not enough corroborative evidence,'' Coulter said. ``You all must realize that this young girl and her family, in their heart of hearts, are convinced and satisfied that this happened. And whether it did or not, I guess, is something only two people will ever know.''
The woman spoke out later against the court's ruling.
``I think it's very unfair,'' she said. ``From what the judge told me, he doesn't think I'm lying, but this man is still going to walk away. He's free, and I'm just another victim. First I was a victim of him, and now I am a victim of the court.''
The defendant declined to comment.
by CNB