"The victim loves her," Murphy told DuBose. "The victim doesn't want her to go to jail. The victim thinks that once this is over, they will marry."
The trial of a Washington County teacher accused of trying to lure one of her students for sex will go on in federal court in Mobile this week as scheduled, a judge ruled Friday.
Prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose to delay the trial on grounds that they needed more time to review hundreds of pages of medical records provided by defense attorneys past a court-set deadline.
Attorney Donald Briskman suggested he may offer the records to demonstrate that his client, Charlene Schmitz, suffers from an "inability or infirmity" that would prevent or inhibit sex.
Schmitz, 54, is accused of using a computer to lure a student for sex. The law does not require prosecutors to prove that sex actually occurred.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Murphy said she needed more time to hire an expert to interpret the voluminous medical records, which date back years.
But DuBose said she cannot imagine how those records would be admissible. At any rate, she said, prosecutors will have had the records for two weeks by the time trial begins Wednesday.
DuBose also granted a prosecution request to bar from the courtroom Leroy High School teachers and others in authority over the now-15-year-old victim when he testifies. But, she said, the law does not allow another request, that a barrier be erected to prevent Schmitz from having eye contact with the teenager.
Press-RegisterNote from Gag:
I can totally see how this fourteen year old kid could love her. Who wouldn't want to bang Grandma Funbags for their first time?
