TN - 3 Ooltewah High School Basketball Players Rape Teammate. Season Canceled.

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This case is so disgusting it is difficult to even post about it. How could the coach take the victim for medical help and then scream that he has done nothing wrong or negligent? He obviously knew that the boy had been injured but did not report it to police and let the team play the game the very next day. I guess the game must go on!:banghead: This victim could have died. It is a sham and a damn shame that the accused are not being tried as adults. Another slap on the hand for anyone who can run, throw, catch and shoot a few hoops, right?
 
lonetraveler said:
Detective Burns' statements are totally outrageous in this article.http://www.foxsports.com/other/stor...ool-basketball-sex-case-can-go-forward-021516
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''This was something stupid that kids do that shouldn't have been done, but it wasn't done for sexual gratification or really sexual in nature,'' Burns said. ''It was an assault, really. It just happened that the end result fit the definition of aggravated rape.''

WHaaaaaaaaaahhhhh?

That man needs to be fired. He has no place serving in any position of any responsibility whatsoever.
 
bluesneakers said:
He is in the wrong profession.
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Detective's job isn't to minimize the crime, that's for sure. I think it's fair to say that vast majority of rapes doesn't result in severe injuries such as this victim sustained. So if this detective thinks that rape where victim had to undergo surgery and has to wear a colostomy bag is no big deal, what does he think about rapes where victim doesn't suffer such injuries? And as this article points out, his testimony doesn't seem to be consistent with the police report which he himself filled out and signed. So, what gives?

"The testimony from Burns appeared to be inconsistent with a police report he compiled in the hours after the alleged attack. According to that report, which was obtained by Outside The Lines, two 16-year-old sophomores and a then-17-year-old senior member of the team locked the door to a downstairs bedroom and overpowered a freshman teammate, wrestling him onto the bed. All three of the teens admitted to their roles in the attack, according to the report."

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/coaches-ad-charged-failing-report-child-sex-abuse/story?id=36960886
 
Is this detective also going to testify at trial of the three suspects? Presumably so, since he was the one investigating the case. I find this very troubling. He is clearly trying to minimize what happened, going so far as blaming victim's injuries on victim's thin clothing. Again, victim could have died from his injuries and had to have emergency surgery (and is victim ever going to be back to normal, considering victim has to wear a colostomy bag), so clearly this is an extremely serious case. So why would a detective provide the sort of testimony this one did? This is something one would expect from a defense lawyer, not a detective on the case.

"For anyone, including a police officer, to suggest otherwise minimizes the severity of this incident, the experience of the victim and, ultimately, makes life more dangerous for current and future victims," Fletcher wrote."
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/...urg-detective-ooltewah-rape-testimony/350390/
 
jjenny said:
Is this detective also going to testify at trial of the three suspects? Presumably so, since he was the one investigating the case. I find this very troubling. He is clearly trying to minimize what happened, going so far as blaming victim's injuries on victim's thin clothing. Again, victim could have died from his injuries and had to have emergency surgery (and is victim ever going to be back to normal, considering victim has to wear a colostomy bag), so clearly this is an extremely serious case. So why would a detective provide the sort of testimony this one did? This is something one would expect from a defense lawyer, not a detective on the case.

"For anyone, including a police officer, to suggest otherwise minimizes the severity of this incident, the experience of the victim and, ultimately, makes life more dangerous for current and future victims," Fletcher wrote."
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/...urg-detective-ooltewah-rape-testimony/350390/
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This is truly atrocious. Trying to find the article where the judge made a comment during his decision to go forward with the trial for the adults who neglected to report the crime. He stated that he was shocked by what the detective said.

Sent from my HTCD100LVWPP using Tapatalk
 
Just very bizarre to hear something like this coming from the detective. This is something I would expect out of defense lawyer, not the detective on the case. Why is he minimizing what happened to the victim and claims it's the truth? Again, victim could have died, had to have surgery, had to spend days in the hospital, had to wear colostomy bag and a catheter. And detective thinks this is no big deal? What gives? Boys will be boys attitude? Or something else?

"I'm sitting there thinking, a cue stick up someone's rectum is traditional? This guy's insane," said Gardenhire on Tuesday in an interview at the state Capitol. He paused before adding, "That's Latin for that guy ought to be fired."
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/...-testimony-sparks-outrage-calls-chang/350506/
 
Hah! This detective is going to be investigated for perjury. I hope they get to the bottom of it.

"The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will investigate a police detective for perjury regarding his testimony about accusations of rape during a boys' basketball team trip."

[video]http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/17/us/basketball-rape-case-investigation-perjury-tennessee/index.html[/video]
 
jjenny said:
Hah! This detective is going to be investigated for perjury. I hope they get to the bottom of it.

"The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will investigate a police detective for perjury regarding his testimony about accusations of rape during a boys' basketball team trip."

[video]http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/17/us/basketball-rape-case-investigation-perjury-tennessee/index.html[/video]
Click to expand...

From the link:

The allegations being adjudicated against several young men in our community constitute rape. Not simply hazing, or bullying, or teasing, or horseplay. Rape. A violent crime," he wrote.

​
"For anyone, including a police officer, to suggest otherwise minimizes the severity of this incident, the experience of the victim and, ultimately, makes life more dangerous for current and future victims."

Good for the police chief.
 
First.
"A spokeswoman at that office said the investigation would focus on differences between the detective's testimony and what he wrote in an earlier report."
I wonder what the differences are --- between his testimony & his earlier report.
That's why the county's district atty referred matter to TennBur/Inv, as possible perjury.


Second.
Some here are critical of detective. Some of his phrasing was, at best, ill chosen. Not defending him, but did these statements really 'downplay' the criminal charges, as this article said?

"...the lead detective ... recounting how players on the high school team described a hazing tradition .... and bullying of freshmen teammates was something they had all been through ..."They had been subject to rough-housing, harassment (and) physical assaults ..."
"Burns seemed to downplay rape charges against the players, saying "this was something stupid that kids do that shouldn't have been done, but it wasn't done for sexual gratification or really sexual in nature. ... It was an assault, really. It just happened that the end result fit the definition of aggravated rape." bbm
[video]http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/17/us/basketball-rape-case-investigation-perjury-tennessee/index.html[/video]

Seems, in court he repeated team members' characterizations of actions as 'hazing' etc. IIUC, the detective did not characterize the teens' use of pool cue as mere 'rough-housing.'

As to teens' actions, like he said, they were something stupid that should not have been done.
Did they do it for sexual gratification? IDK but seems doubtful.
Putting a foreign object like that in a person is assault and battery.
Their violent acts caused injuries requiring surgery.
Is violence like this about power, control, & degrading the victim, or is it about sex? Regardless, the teens are charged w causing serious injuries.

Appears that adults who were aware of this failed to perform their duties as mandatory reporters of such abuse (sexual or not).

Sad, sad, sad.
 
Again, the rape laws in TN don't require for perps to do it for sexual gratification. I already posted numerous links to that.
So it doesn't matter what was motivation for the 3 suspects. There was penetration (with an object) thus making it rape. Detective knows this law full well. He admits that by saying what happened fits definition of aggravated rape. He has to follow the laws, not come up with his own laws. He also doesn't work for the defense, but his testimony was something I would expect to come from a defense lawyer, not a lead detective on the case.
 
jjenny said:
Again, the rape laws in TN don't require for perps to do it for sexual gratification. I already posted numerous links to that.
So it doesn't matter what was motivation for the 3 suspects. Detective knows this law full well. He admits that by saying what happened fits definition of aggravated rape. So for him to claim it was an assault and there was no rape doesn't therefore makes much sense, does it?
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To me it sounds like he was trying to say "They were just goofing off, playing rough, and someone got hurt. It has nothing to do with them being *****s or perverts."

Because that would be the most important thing he wanted to make clear.
 
bluesneakers said:
To me it sounds like he was trying to say "They were just goofing off, playing rough, and someone got hurt. It has nothing to do with them being *****s or perverts."

Because that would be the most important thing to make clear.
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Most important thing to make clear for whom? The accused? That would be for the defense to claim, not lead detective on the case. This dude is in the wrong profession if he thinks his job is to defend the suspects. Who by the way, in my opinion, should be charged as adults.
 
jjenny said:
Most important thing to make clear for whom? The accused? That would be for the defense to claim, not lead detective on the case. This dude is in the wrong profession if he thinks his job is to defend the suspects. Who by the way, in my opinion, should be charged as adults.
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Yes, that's what I think he meant. He was attempting to defend them and included their sexuality. The boys did a bad thing but they're not deviants and everyone is going to be okay.

Wrong on so many levels, and not his place to say, dismissive of the victim... Imagine being the victim of a crime and reporting to him.
 
bluesneakers said:
Yes, that's what I think he meant. He was attempting to defend them and included their sexuality. The boys did a bad thing but they're not deviants and everyone is going to be okay.

Wrong on so many levels, and not his place to say, dismissive of the victim... Imagine being the victim of a crime and reporting to him.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Seems like this dude confused himself for a defense lawyer ( I got news for him, he isn't one). Considering victim was so seriously injured he required surgery (and what about long term consequences for victim's health, considering victim had to wear a colostomy bag and a catheter), how can this detective imply this was no big deal and blown out of proportion? What about victims that don't have these type of injuries? What does he think of those cases, if one with severe injuries doesn't seem a big deal to him?
 
Sounds like this detective has been a busy bee. School board attorney claims detective told him there was a gag order therefore school officials shouldn't investigate. Turns out there was no gag order.

"He said the detective, who is now under investigation by the TBI related to his testimony in Hamilton County Juvenile Court, also said county school officials should take no steps to investigate the matter because the Juvenile judge in Sevier County had put down a gag order."

http://www.chattanoogan.com/2016/2/18/318312/School-Board-Attorney-Says-Gatlinburg.aspx
 
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