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In a court hearing lasting less than half an hour and
attended by only one spectator, the lawsuit filed by the woman at the
center of one of Springfield’s biggest scandals ended Tuesday.
“Jane Doe” was just 18 when she was raped by two men who came
to her apartment in the middle of the night. When the men returned, a few
hours later, she dialed 911 and reported only that she wanted these men to
stop knocking on her door — not mentioning the sexual assault, for
fear that her father, a Springfield police officer, would find out what had
happened to her. The incident mushroomed into a scandal that resulted
in the ouster of Renatta Fraizer, the then-rookie officer who responded to
Doe’s call. Falsely accused of failing to prevent the rape, Frazier
later won a $650,000 settlement from the city of Springfield. In 2005, Doe sued Frazier, Frazier’s attorney
Courtney Cox, and another black police officer, now-retired Rickey Davis,
for intentional infliction of emotional distress, portraying her in a false
light, and defamation. Last month, Doe offered to dismiss the lawsuit,
leaving open the option of rekindling the case later, and not paying
defendants’ attorney fees. The defendants refused [see “Last
word?” May 3]. Doe’s attorney, Stephen Hedinger, then requested
a continuance.
On Tuesday, Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge
Patrick Kelley seemed open to Hedinger’s motion, saying he
couldn’t rule on summary judgment with “facts still dangling
out there.” But defendants’ attorney Don Craven told Kelley
that Doe had admitted in her deposition that she couldn’t point to
any statement any one of them had made defaming her. Her claim was based on
their participation in a WICS(Channel 20) series in which the convicted
rapist proclaimed his innocence. “You mean if an accused person says he’s
innocent, that somehow defames the crime victim?” Kelley asked
Doe’s attorney. “In some cases, yes,” Hedinger replied. “Here’s what I’m going to do:
I’m going to deny your motion to continue, and grant the
defendants’ motion for summary judgment,” Kelley said. And with that, the rape victim’s lawsuit ended.
Contact Dusty Rhodes at drhodes@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Jun 14-20, 2007.
