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Paxson Case on Shaky Ground: Madeira Didn't See Woman's Statement; Defense Seeks Dismissal

Posted on: Saturday, 1 April 2006, 06:00 CST

By Pete Bosak, The Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.

Apr. 1--BELLEFONTE -- Centre County's district attorney said one of his assistants did not show him a statement from the woman who has accused former Penn State football player Scott Paxson of sexually assaulting her -- a document Paxson's attorney said could torpedo the prosecution's case.

The three-page statement given last year to Penn State's Office of Judicial Affairs by the woman is a "fatal" blow to the prosecution, said Joseph Amendola, Paxson's attorney.

District Attorney Michael Madeira said he did not see the document, obtained this week by the Centre Daily Times, before he gave approval to Assistant District Attorney Lance Marshall to charge Paxson with sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault.

"I didn't look at the documents from the judicial review board because I didn't have them," Madeira said. "It has nothing to do with Lance. Whether something was intentionally withheld from me, I'm not going to speculate on that. I'm not going to open the window into the district attorney's office."

In her Judicial Affairs statement, the alleged victim admitted kissing Paxson at his apartment in the early-morning hours of Dec. 15, 2004.

"He was touching my body around my chest and lap, which I was OK with," she wrote in the statement. When Paxson put his hand in her underwear, the victim wrote, she "wasn't opposed to this necessarily, but I wasn't encouraging it."

She never told Paxson "no" or to stop during sex, according to her Penn State testimony.

"He kept asking, 'Do you like that?' I was saying 'no' in my mind, but I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud," the woman said in her statement.

She also wrote that she never cried out for help when two people were in Paxson's campus apartment.

"It's fatal," Amendola said. "The complainant's statement that she gave to Judicial Affairs is fatal to the prosecution."

Paxson, meanwhile, is trying to blend in as best he can during his final semester at Penn State, knowing people are looking at him and wondering whether he's guilty. He's afraid to sit beside women in any of his classes.

"I have this horrified feeling they're going to get up and move," Paxson, 23, said Friday.

Paxson said he expects to be vindicated.

"I'm innocent," he said. "Please, let me go on with my life."

The alleged victim could not be reached for comment Friday.

Amendola said he hopes that, in light of the district attorney's lack of knowledge of the statement, Madeira will "discuss the case with the complainant and choose not to pursue prosecution."

"That would be in everyone's best interests," Amendola said. "I have great respect for Michael Madeira, and I expect he will make the right decision."

Sources who asked to remain anonymous said the statement was in Marshall's hands prior to Madeira joining the district attorney's office, but it was not shown to Madeira when he was approached about the case.

After interviewing the alleged victim, Madeira said, he gave the go-ahead to prosecute Paxson, a projected later-round pick in this month's NFL draft.

"I'm reticent to get into too much now," Madeira said. "We have an open case now. What comes of it will be known if we change our position or what comes of it in court. But I'm not saying our position will change."

An internal Penn State police memo obtained by the Centre Daily Times indicates that acting District Attorney Mark Smith declined to prosecute Paxson in late 2005, after Penn State's Judicial Affairs found Paxson innocent. It also states that the alleged victim reported the incident to police but initially wanted no charges filed.

"Sometime later, she changed her mind and came back to us asking that the university do something about the incident," Steve Shelow, with university police, wrote in a Feb. 27, 2006, e-mail.

That prompted a Judicial Affairs hearing in 2005, and Paxson was found guilty of misconduct. He appealed the decision and was cleared.

All along, Paxson has contended the sex was consensual and that the two had been having sexually oriented conversations on online Instant Messenger.

Following the university's Judicial Affairs hearings, the alleged victim pressed on, according to the university police e-mail, and contacted the district attorney's office, which declined to prosecute at that time.

The woman, however, was told she could contact the new district attorney, Madeira, once he was sworn in in January, which she did, the e-mail states.

Marshall has told the CDT that he put the case file on Madeira's desk on his second day in office. In February 2006, Madeira said, he made the decision to prosecute, based on his face-to-face meeting with he alleged victim.

"I didn't have the Judicial Affairs stuff," Madeira said. "It doesn't change the decision I've made. The major deciding factor for me was talking with the victim."

Telephone messages left for Marshall and Smith were not returned Friday.

Chuck Abel, Paxson's agent, said the former Nittany Lion has an interview next week with the Philadelphia Eagles. The New Orleans Saints, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars also have expressed interest in the 6-foot-5-inch, 290-pound lineman.

Still, Abel said, Paxson stands to lose a lot money if he slips in the draft because of the assault allegations.

"There is no evidence to convict Scott to begin with," Abel said. "I don't see how they can go forward with this case based on the miscommunication in the district attorney's office."

Amendola had filed for and has been granted a writ of habeas corpus, meaning Judge Bradley P. Lunsford will review the transcripts from Paxson's preliminary hearing and rule on whether the charges should have been bound for trial in the first place. That hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. April 20.

But Amendola wants the charges dropped well before then.

"I want to see this dropped before any further court proceedings are held and before Scott is further harmed in the upcoming NFL draft," he said.

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Pete Bosak can be reached at 235-3928.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.

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Source: Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.)

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