Thursday March 28, 2024
SNc Channels:

Search
About Salem-News.com

 

Jun-13-2007 02:13printcomments

Jury Begins Deliberation in Trial of Former Salem Officer

He is charged in three alleged incidents, one of which involves a woman who was a minor.

Sterling Alexander
Sterling Alexander

(SALEM, Ore.) - The final arguments were made today in the trial of a former Salem, Oregon police officer who stands accused of a number of charges centering around three alleged sex abuse incidents.

The cases the state is prosecuting Alexander for date from 2001, 2004 and 2005. Prosecutor Jodie Bureta says the defendant used his position as a police officer to take advantage of the victims; two female adults and one woman who was a minor at the time of the alleged offense.

The proceedings in the Marion County courtroom of Judge Albin Norblad began at 9:00 AM with Bureta making her closing argument, followed by the closing argument of Defense Attorney Kevin Lafkey.

Today's wrap up of the case included a video presentation by Lafkey, which was a summary of trial events over recent days. State Prosecutor Jodie Bureta was given the opportunity to offer a rebuttal to the 13 members of the jury and the alternate juror after both closing arguments had been made.

Bureta began by reminding the jury of the many things they had heard and observed throughout the trial. She says Sterling Alexander is guilty of one count of first-degree Rape, three counts of second-degree Sex Abuse, one count of Strangulation, one count of Kidnapping and a single count of Official Misconduct.

The defense says that in the first case, Alexander did not know that the person he was with was a minor, when in fact she was 17 at the time. Defense Counsel Kevin Lafkey says his client did not force the act of sex, instead contending that it was an act of mutual consent.

Bureta counters this by saying that regardless of what the former officer claims he knew; the alleged victim was underage and under Oregon law, incapable of granting legal consent. She also says Alexander had to have known her age because he took a police report from her, and later gleaned her phone number from the report, which was located in a box adjacent to the one containing her date of birth.

But a witness who works for the city of Salem says that the information regarding the alleged victim's date of birth was taken by dispatch, and not something Sterling Alexander would necessarily have seen.

Lafkey says many statements that the alleged victims have made have been inconsistent, and contradicted by other testimony that they gave at different times. He says that the alleged victim in the first case has given many stories to different people about what happened that day when Alexander picked her up and took her to court where she had to testify as a witness.

But the prosecutor says that the victim in the case has nothing to gain from their testimony, that she, "has no motivation to lie. He wrote down her name 13 days before he raped her."

And that very notion that somebody might have had something to gain has been something Alexander has maintained since the beginning. He had left the Salem Police shortly before initiating a civil rights complaint for treatment he said he received as an officer.

They say bad things often happen in threes, and over three years the case against Alexander grew to include two, and then three victims. But he says that the years old charges "were drug up" as an act of retaliation for his investigation of a civil action against the city.

Then, just days before the trial was set to begin; an envelope containing a stack of transcripts of emails that were passed back and forth between Salem Police and Oregon State Police arrived at Lafkey's office. They had been subpoenaed but the defense had seen no sign of them as the trial loomed closer.

As a Salem officer at the time of two of the alleged offenses, Oregon State Police had to be called in to investigate to avoid a conflict of interest as state law does not allow police to investigate their own. Lafkey says the emails demonstrate that the investigation was in fact performed by Salem and Oregon State Police.

Salem Police Lt. Steve Bellshaw says Salem Police were not involved, but that they did have a liaison officer, a role he personally filled, to help facilitate communication and other needs that could arise.

What Lafkey showed the jurors is that one of the emails made a reference to telling a Salem investigator to "name his price" and that the state investigator writing the email was "desperate for another victim."

Lafkey says it is a situation where police located and then cultivated and prepared the alleged victims for court.

Bureta says that is the farthest thing from the truth, citing repeatedly that the experience of testifying in a public courtroom about a sexual attack is extremely difficult for victims, and that they suffer embarrassment and humiliation.

But that question about an officer being able to "name his price" is like a thorn in a lion's paw. Deputy Chief Steve Bellshaw said it was along the lines of "I'll buy you dinner" and had nothing to do with Salem Police making a witness payoff.

But Lafkey says it points to huge problems with the integrity of the investigation against his client.

Prosecutor Jodie Bureta told the jury that, "the only person that Mr. Lafkey wants you to think isn't lying, is Sterling Alexander." Her version of what happened during the alleged crimes includes Alexander forcing the third victim's head toward him, therefore "forcing her to have oral sex with him." She also says the former officer placed his hand on his pistol during the act.

Lafkey brought witness testimony forth that indicated the third alleged victim, a city employee who went for a ridealong with Alexander in his police car, had a crush on his client before the alleged crime happened, that they kissed and touched each other's private areas. "After five minutes she stopped and what did my client do? He took her to lunch."

Bureta says Alexander spit on the second alleged victim who only complied with Alexander because she believed her frequent underage drinking parties that he knew of, "could lead to her child being taken away." Lafkey says the woman kissed Alexander earlier the same day but told him he should not be in uniform. Alexander is reported to have said, "I'll be back in the morning." The next morning he arrived, the woman let him in and they had sexual intercourse.

Lafkey says the woman had a number of options if she was scared of Alexander but didn't know what to do. Options like having a friend or relative over, or saying she would be gone in the morning, "Any one of a thousand things she could have said," he added.

The third case continues to have a major issue over the location. The prosecution says the woman never really was sure where the exact location was until an investigator took her to West Salem this week to have a look around. She identified a spot that is several miles closer to Marion County than the original streets that were named.

In order for prosecutors to be able to take their case forward, they have to demonstrate that the alleged crime happened within a mile of the county line.

Lafkey says the location in Polk County simply was changed after it was realized that the initially reported location was not within a mile of Marion County.

According to Lafkey, his client made some errors in judgment but he is not guilty of any of the crimes as charged. He told the jury that the prosecution's point is; "where there is smoke there is fire."

He says a lack of integrity means the investigation was compromised when the two police agencies began working the case together, "This is not what we want them to be doing, not deciding before they make their report. When they're desperate you can't trust the work product they create. He says the case is tainted because the state police investigator was by her own admission in the email, desperate.

All through his closing arguments Lafkey talked about the alleged victim's lack of consistencies, as well as those of the police investigating the case. He says there is no proof and there are too many versions of the facts.

During her rebuttal, Jodie Bureta talked about the fear that she says Sterling Alexander instilled in the alleged victims. She says the third victim texted him a message that read, "You have ruined my life." The prosecutor says that any case involving a police officer involves a different set of circumstances, "Just being a police officer and having that gun, that's force." She urged the jurors to look beyond several of the points Lafkey had made.

The jury went into deliberation after a break for lunch. By 5:00 PM there was no decision, so the jury will reconvene Wednesday in an effort to reach a verdict.

Here are the other Salem-News.com articles on the Sterling Alexander trial:

Jun-07-2007 Trial in Former Salem Police Officer Sex Abuse Case Continues

Jun-06-2007 Sex Abuse Trial of Former Police Officer Begins in Salem, Oregon




Comments Leave a comment on this story.
Name:

All comments and messages are approved by people and self promotional links or unacceptable comments are denied.



Anonymous June 13, 2007 1:18 pm (Pacific time)

errors in judgement was referring to moral errors in which we all make which however does not make us criminals. if that was the case we'd all be in court. as of now there is still no verdict---unreasonable doubt!


taxpayer June 13, 2007 6:55 am (Pacific time)

As the story says, "According to Lafkey, his client made some errors in judgment" is scary for a person in his previous position of trusted authority. These poor "judgment" calls leds me to believe there is a pattern to give more credit to the victims then what the defence wants people to believe. Oh, who signs a police report (with age) and doesn't read it? I want my money back for hiring him a cop.


Dale Corvallis June 13, 2007 6:47 am (Pacific time)

Deputy Chief Steve Bellshaw should be fired for his actions in this case. "name his price" is nothing like "I'll buy you dinner".

[Return to Top]
©2024 Salem-News.com. All opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Salem-News.com.


Articles for June 12, 2007 | Articles for June 13, 2007 | Articles for June 14, 2007
Annual Hemp Festival & Event Calendar

Click here for all of William's articles and letters.

Support
Salem-News.com:

Tribute to Palestine and to the incredible courage, determination and struggle of the Palestinian People. ~Dom Martin



Sean Flynn was a photojournalist in Vietnam, taken captive in 1970 in Cambodia and never seen again.