The state Supreme Court and a district judge have rejected motions from a woman who objects to a judge's ban on saying such words as "rape" and "victim" at the trial of the man she says raped her.
The state Supreme Court and a district judge have rejected motions from a woman who objects to a judge’s ban on saying such words as “rape” and “victim” at the trial of the man she says raped her.
Judge Jeffre Cheuvront of Lancaster County District Court on Wednesday said Boston lawyer Wendy Murphy, who filed the motion Monday, was not licensed to practice law in Nebraska and he dismissed her court motion on behalf of a woman at the center of a sexual assault trial.
And without explanation Wednesday, the state Supreme Court rejected Murphy’s request for review of the judge’s order.
On Monday, Murphy filed motions in Lancaster County District Court asking Cheuvront to stay a contempt of court finding against Tory Bowen until Murphy could present legal arguments against certain pre-trial orders by the judge.
Cheuvront in the orders banned the use of words like “rape,” “sexual assault kit,” and “assailant.” He has also ordered witnesses to sign papers showing their acknowledgment of the order.
Bowen, who has accused Pamir Safi of Lincoln of sexually assaulting her in October 2004, has said she will not sign the papers.
Cheuvront said Wednesday that Murphy was ineligible to file the motions under a state law that requires people to be admitted to the Nebraska bar before filing court pleadings.
The judge said that filing motions without a license is a Class III misdemeanor under state law.
Murphy had filed motions with Cheuvront and with the Nebraska Supreme Court to be admitted to the bar to represent Bowen. She filed the motion with Cheuvront Monday, and the Supreme Court motion on Tuesday.
Both were still pending when Cheuvront issued the order Wednesday.
Reached by phone at the Omaha airport Wednesday, Murphy acknowledged that she had no Nebraska license but said she had filed routine requests to practice in Nebraska only for the Bowen case. She said Cheuvront apparently ignored her request and even suggested that she had broken Nebraska law by filing the motion as an unlicensed attorney.
“I filed a motion seeking permission to file a motion,” Murphy said, “so because he never granted it I never practiced law.”
Cheuvront said in the order Wednesday that Wendy Murphy, a law professor at the New England School of law, appears to have violated state statute by filing the motion as an unlicensed attorney.
Posted in Local on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 7:00 pm Updated: 3:26 pm.
© Copyright 2009, JournalStar.com, 926 P Street Lincoln, NE | Terms of Service and Privacy Policy