Roll Red Roll by Nancy Schwartzman

Author:Nancy Schwartzman [Schwartzman, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780306924361
Publisher: Hachette
Published: 2022-07-12T00:00:00+00:00

Others took the stand: Anthony Craig, Farrah Marcino, J. P. Rigaud, who walked the court through the investigation, some witnesses for the defense, a BCI specialist who matched the DNA found in the sperm on the Steelers blanket to a control sample swabbed from Trent Mays’s mouth. When Madison asked, the specialist noted that Evan Westlake had refused to give a DNA sample, possibly to avoid incrimination.

The defense attorneys continued to argue that the victim was a willing participant. They argued that she insisted on leaving the party with the boys despite advice from other girls, that she was interested in Trent, that she was awake enough to cuddle and kiss.

But the following day of trial, Saturday, would be the moment of truth: Jane Doe would be in the courtroom to take the stand.

“Jane Doe is a tough kid,” said Marianne Hemmeter, “but when the state of Ohio stepped in, the case was out of her hands.”

By the time the trial rolled around, Jane Doe’s testimony seemed key to winning the case. According to her attorney, her parents encouraged her to speak, but she wasn’t forced. Ultimately, the decision to put her on the stand, the notion that she could handle it, was based on her innate strength and bravery. She agreed to testify.

According to renowned women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred, a victim’s testimony is almost always essential for a case to have any chance. “The reality is that most prosecutors are not going to prosecute unless the victim will testify,” she explained. “And even then, sometimes they won’t… because nobody wants to lose a high-profile case.”

Rape cases are rarely simple convictions, especially with teenagers involved. As Allred said, the fact that Jane Doe was courageous enough to testify was important because there was so much media focus on the trial. “[The] attention… might encourage some victims to say, ‘I want to have the same courage to testify if necessary in a criminal case,’” Allred said. “It’s empowering to others to know that a victim would do that and did do that.”

As Jane Doe settled into the witness stand, avoiding the eyes of Trent and Ma’lik, the courtroom was respectfully somber and quiet. Marianne Hemmeter approached with extra softness and care. The questioning began: Jane Doe testified that the Smirnoff drink she had at the party seemed to have a different effect on her than normal; she said that she’d been interested in Trent and trusted him. She spoke calmly and clearly about waves of realizations—about waking up scared, surrounded by the boys, in a place she didn’t recognize, about feeling “freaked out and embarrassed,” about trying to piece together what happened to her, about the boys frantically texting her not to tell the police, about having been betrayed by people she trusted. She spoke about having to navigate the aftermath in which people who she thought cared spoke about her in damning and shameful terms, about the resulting threats and bullying.

Hemmeter read texts aloud that Trent had sent to

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