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Oregon daily _ -
emerald
Friday, March 9, 1984
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 85, Number 118
Release of convicted rapist met with protests
By Julie Shippen
Of the Emerald
A Springfield man who was convicted of first
degree rape and then released on his own recognizance
sparked a protest at the Lane County Courthouse
Thursday.
Nearly 30 women and men protested Circuit Court
Judge Douglas Spencer's decision on Monday to
release the 40 year-old man, Raymond Lee Dean, of 2572
E. St., who was found guilty of raping an 11 year-old girl.
Dean was released on the conditions that he make no
attempt to contact the girl or her family, who live in Cot
tage Grove.
The protesters, however, said the reasoning for
Dean's release, which is based on such factors as posi
tion in the community and background, is a "sexist and
classist system."
"Basically, I'm really appalled at that," said Janet
Schwier, who started the protest in response to reading
of Dean's release in the newspaper. "I don't feel that
the word of a convicted rapist should be trusted,"
Schwier said.
After calling the judge's office "to make a rebel pro
test," Schwier contacted the Rape Crisis Network to
form a protest group, she said. Women's Web and the
University's Women's Resource Center were also in
volved in the demonstration.
The group chanted and carried placards with
messages including, "Respectable Rapist? Nonexistant"
and "Change the system that lets rapists out."
"I think Judge Spencer needs to know that blacks,
whites, gays and straights are pissed as hell that men
who are violent against women and children are out in
the streets," one protester said. Another person sug
gested the group put Spencer under citizen's arrest for
violating their rights.
The protesters then entered the courthouse in
search of Spencer's office, with reporters and television
crews following close behind. The group wandered
upstairs into the courtroom lobby area, but were unable
to reach Spencer and returned to the front courtyard
area for statements.
"I'm here protesting against the holocaust," said
Mark Waldo, one protester who carried a paper banner
with "1 rape every 3 minutes in U.S. — 70 percent Ac
quaintance Rape" written on it in red. "We want to raise
a lot of questions about bail and how serious the system
treats rape," Waldo said.
According to Thomas Fagan of the Lane County
Public Defender's Service, the procedure which Judge
Spencer used to release Dean "is completely consistent
with the statutory guidelines."
Dean had originally signed a security release ques
tionnaire/agreement in October of 1983, which took in
to account such factors as his financial condition, com
munity ties, family status, background and job situa
tion, Fagan said. Dean met all the requirements
necessary for release, he said.
The protest members didn't agree the guidelines
correctly denoted a person's character, however.
"Wearing three-piece suits and owning a home doesn't
really mean respectful,” a protester said.
The more important issue to be examined is that of
the "social problem of incest," Fagan said. The girl and
her mother and brother had been living with Dean at
the time, according to Fagan.
"Stranger to stranger is one thing, and force is
another," he said. "When the average person says
'rape,' they think of forcible rape and violence. These
are not the only things that qualify a rape," Fagan said.
Relationships and age also must be taken into ac
count.
The term "acquaintance rape" also implies force, he
said, offering '‘quasi-incest" as a better description of
the case.
No comment was available from Judge Spencer's of
fice, other than that the sentencing is pending upon
receipt of a pre-sentencing investigation report.
Photo by Travis Johnson
Nearly 30 protesters gathered at the Lane County
Courthouse Thursday to express their disapproval of
the release of a convicted rapist.
Just fiddlin' around
A group of eight student violists from the University were present at
the airport Wednesday night to greet the world-renowned viola player
Raphael Hillyer with musical serenade upon his arrival in Eugene.
Hillyer is internationally famous as one of the founding members of
the Juilliard String Quartet, as well as for his viola teaching, concert
tours and orchestral recitals.
He will serve as one of the four panel judges for the "Close”
Scholarship Competition to be held at the University Friday and
Saturday.
Viola students are coming from all parts of the nation to compete in
the event, according to Bernard McWilliams, an associate professor of
the viola at the music school.
Photo by Travis Johnson
Appeals board finds student
innocent of cheating charge
By Doug Nash
Of the Emerald
The University Appeals Board has over
turned a hearing officer's decision that a
student cheated on a final examination
because her answers were too close to
the wording of the textbook used in the
class.
In delivering its opinion, the board said
there was not "substantial evidence" to
show that former University student
Nicole Harrison had cheated in Prof.
Donald Van Houten's upper-division
sociology class last summer term.
"The underlying facts, uncontested by
the defendent, do not lead to ultimate
facts in the findings on which the conclu
sion of violation of the student conduct
code can rest," the opinion said.
In September, Hearing Officer Nelson
Grubbe ruled Harrison had cheated on
the test because her answers too closely
resembled the wording of the class text
book Harrison said she had used the
textbook to memorize the answers to
study questions for the final. She said
she had studied considerably in prepara
tion for the test, even taking time out
from her job.
But Grubbe, noting that Harrison had
not passed the midterm examination in
the class, said Harrison could not have
memorized the answers.
"No evidence was produced that the
accused had an extraordinary memory
capable of remembering all the
statements written in her Blue Book,"
Grubbe said.
However, in its opinion this week, the
appeals board said the University had
never offered any concrete evidence
against Harrison's claim that she had, in
fact, memorized the material. The fact
she did not do well on her midterm exam
"does not lead to the conclusion that she
cheated on this exam," the board stated.
"The University did not present
evidence that Ms. Harrison was in
capable of memorizing the material in
the text, nor did the University present
evidence that only an extraordinary
memory would be capable of memoriz
ing this much material," the board said.
"In short, the University did not refute
the evidence offered by the defendant in
her defense."
Van Houten could not be reached for
comment; nor could Harrison, who js
currently in Alaska.
Student Advocate Bill Kittredge, mean
while, said he was "ecstatic" about the
decision.
"It was our contention from the very
beginning that there was no evidence
and no case," he said. "It was his (Van
Houten's) subjective impression that Ms.
Harrison could not have done that well
on the test."
It was brought out at Harrison's initial
hearing that Van Houten had not paid at
tention to students during the examina
tion, Kittredge said. Van Houten had us
ed the time to read a paper, Kittredge
said.
If Van Houten had been watching the
students, Harrison would have never
been accused of cheating, Kittredge
added.
"The only reason this issue ever came
up was because the professor was
reading a paper he had been asked to
review," Kittredge said.