JUSTICE OR AGENDA?

Article written by Mr. Matt Westerhold
Sandusky Register
(abbreviated version)
December 9, 2021 Port Clinton, Ohio -- "A trial set to begin next week could redefine the boundaries in Ohio for women who report sexual assaults. And, not in a good way. . . .

Yost and Wood are employing tactics men who rape women use to intimidate victims, the first one being to threaten to charge them with lying about being assaulted. For Waters, a 29-year-old Black woman who was a police officer prior to being arrested, Yost went all the way. He convinced a grand jury to indict her.

This could be a case that is first of its kind in Ohio, charging a woman with a felony for allegedly lying about being raped, and it's not lost on me that Waters is a Black woman. Our judicial system treats Black people much more harshly than whites, and Yost, O'Brien and Wood are all following that tradition.

This trio of prosecutors might have thought it would be a walk in the park convicting Waters, but she and her attorney, Sarah Anjum, are putting up an epic fight, pushing back hard.

The missteps by police and prosecutors - including withholding evidence from Anjum and Waters and possibly sharing with others intimate and degrading photos of Waters, but not with the defense - have been so consistent it's difficult to think it's not on purpose.

More than 120 court filings have been made since Waters was indicted consisting of more than 330 pages. Visiting Judge Janet Burnside already has ruled on a number of motions, including barring the prosecution from referring to the man Waters accused as a "victim" when he's on the witness stand.

There also will be a team of women fighting for Waters when the trial starts next week, if the case is not dismissed before then for what Anjum has called prosecutorial misconduct.

Laura L. Dunn, an attorney in Washington, D.C., will be Anjum's co-counsel. Dunn advocates for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment as the remedy to the Neanderthal approach police and prosecutors, including Yost, O'Brien and Wood, have about sexual violence.

"Justice is rare for victims of gender violence," Dunn explains in a 2018 TED talk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-UcGCnJ14c

Lisa Avalos, a law professor at Louisiana State University is an expert in criminal law and procedure, with an emphasis on sexual offenses and gender-based violence, also has been added to the defenses's witness list.

Avalos is expected to testify about how Waters' initial complaint was investigated. Here's hoping she's asked about Yost, O'Brien and Wood, and how they've handled this prosecution. For them, rape victims in other cases can just wait, and justice may or may not happen. In the meantime, they're busy prosecuting a Black woman."-Sandusky Register