While denying a motion to dismiss, the judge in the case against four wrestlers gave the district attorney’s office a deadline to specify the details in the charges.
During a Feb. 2 motion hearing in Branch 1, Wood County Judge Greg Potter ordered Assistant District Attorney Craig Lambert to specify a timeframe for the allegations against four Lincoln High School wrestlers.
Devin Peterson, Rylan Lubeck, Kasey Einerson and Zachary Benitz — all seniors — are accused of various misconduct in the lockerroom over the 2010-2011 season by a then-freshman on the wrestling team. The four boys have been charged with disorderly conduct, which carries a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail and up to a $1,000 fine.
After the alleged victim recanted some of his statement to police, the district attorney’s case was called into question by the defense.
“We have to know what we are being charged with,” said Gary Kryshak, attorney for Benitz, “what has been retracted and what has not been retracted.”
In a December meeting that included the alleged victim’s family, their attorney and Lambert, the alleged victim changed some of his statement. During the meeting, Lambert called Kryshak to disclose the conversation.
“(On the phone with Kryshak) I told him was the three (Lubeck, Einerson and Benitz) did not touch (the victim) with their penis. The victim indicated everything else in the complaint occurred,” Lambert said during the motion hearing. “The only thing different was touching of penis. There was still towel snapping (and) dancing around naked.”
And even without the victim’s statement, there are many people who claimed to witness inappropriate events, Lambert said.
“Investigators said (the alleged victim) said that it happened … (and) six ninth-grade wrestlers corroborated,” he said.
It becomes a credibility issue that can be argued during the trial, Potter said.
“I don’t know if it is a recantation or not but that is not a basis to dismiss the complaint,” he said. “It is a credibility issue that is up to the jury to decide.”
The prosecution, however, has to clarify the charges, Potter said.
“The charge requires specific elements,” he said. “It has to be a specific act with a specific time period.
“If I allow this to proceed in the fashion there would be problems.”
Potter gave Lambert a Feb. 10 deadline to specify the charges.
Among the other rulings in the case:
- Potter declined to make a ruling against admitting other evidence of wrongdoing — a motion made by Lambert — until the district attorney clarified the charges. In the motion, the district attorney claimed additional various misconduct occurred in events that spanned the past two wrestling seasons. Some acts were allegedly performed by some or all of the defendants in the case, which was a concern to Potter.
- Potter ruled against admitting into evidence a claim made by the alleged victim that he raped an 8-year-old girl. The admission would be too prejudicial to the jury, Potter said. The motion, filed by Amy Boettcher, attorney for Lubeck, stated the claim demonstrated the alleged victim’s lack of credibility.
- The March 5 trial will not take place in Wood County, after Potter ruled in favor of a motion to change the venue. The location would not be revealed until it is appropriate, Potter said.
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