Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 13, 1995 TAG: 9511130064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
David Keith Bell and Larry Dean Neighbors II dispute the woman's claims that they raped her the night of May 14 while off duty, after first offering her a ride home from a Roanoke bar.
In a motion filed last week in Roanoke Circuit Court, attorneys for the deputies requested the prosecution to hand over any information concerning the woman's prior sexual conduct and allegations of sexual abuse, "which may become relevant to show that the victim has a motive to fabricate the charge against the accused."
A hearing on the motion has been scheduled for Friday.
Tony Anderson, who represents Bell, said he wants to find out if the woman has made false sexual allegations in the past.
If she has, he said, he and co-counsel William Cleaveland would likely ask a judge to grant an exception to the rape shield law, which usually prohibits any mention of a rape victim's prior sexual conduct.
Anderson said he does not have any firsthand knowledge of false allegations made by the woman. But, he added, "We have a good-faith basis to believe it, otherwise we would not have filed the motion."
Anderson, who is seeking the information through a discovery motion, said he is interested in learning more about a previous rape allegation that the women made, as well as other information on which he declined to elaborate.
While the rape shield law is intended to protect the complaining witness, Anderson said this case is unusual because the woman, Ronlyn Eaton, contacted the news media about the charges in May and asked that her name be used.
"I don't want to make it appear that we are not sensitive to the confidentiality of the complaining witness; generally we are," he said.
"But in this case, because she sought out public attention with the granting of interviews, she apparently is not concerned about her identity remaining anonymous."
Bell and Neighbors, who worked as guards in the Roanoke City Jail, were suspended without pay shortly after they were charged. Bell, 24, is accused of sodomy; Neighbors, 25, of rape and sodomy.
At a preliminary hearing in June, Eaton, 25, testified that Bell and Neighbors offered her a ride home from a Williamson Road bar the night of May 14, then sexually abused her as they drove through the city.
Eaton - who said she trusted the men because she knew they were deputies - testified that they forced her to have intercourse and perform oral sex in a Chevrolet Blazer as they drove around the city for at least an hour, stopping once in a residential area and again at a convenience store to buy condoms.
Eaton called police after the men dropped her off in the parking lot of the bar where they had met earlier.
No trial date has been set. Roanoke prosecutors and judges have recused themselves from handling the case, based on their close ties to the Sheriff's Office.
Henry County Commonwealth's Attorney Bob Bushnell, who was appointed special prosecutor, could not be reached for comment last week.
by CNB