Congressman’s defense: Sex talk was just fantasy, never real
■ TRIAL: Reyno els phone-sex
conversations with a 16-year-old
were never acted out, lawyers say
CHICAGO (AP) With the I
talk heard more often in barrooms ihan in
courtrooms, lawyers debated on Monday
whether U S Rep Mel Reynolds had sex
with a teen-age campaign worker nr mere
ly fantasized about it
Prosecutors and defense lawyers
offered starkly contrasting portraits of
the 43-year old congressman in opening
statements at his trial on sex abuse
charges
One side painted a picture of a sexual
predator whose target was a lf>-year-old
girl from a broken home The other
spoke of a man whose weakness for
phone sex xvns trumped up into felony
charges.
"What Mel Reynolds did in this case
is he had phone sex." defense attorney
Sam Adam declared He urged juror* (o
"examine your own hearts and sav to
yourself, ‘Hava I ever talked this wav to
an adult friend of mine'’"
Reynolds, a Democrat in his si>< ond
term, is charged with criminal sexual
assault, aggravated criminal sexual
abuse, child pornography and obstrui
lion of justice for allegedly trying to
derail investigation of the case
Proses ulor Andrea Zopp said Reynolds
pursued campaign worker Beverly Heard,
then lti. while he was running for Con
gress in the summer of 1992
"She was exactly what Mel Reynolds
was looking for," Zopp said “Because
she was the kind of girl who would fall
for his rap and his m t
The heart of the proem ution case is a
collection of wiretap tapes in which
Reynolds and Heard, now D), discuss
sexual encounters that allegedly
mi urred when she was It* and 17
The tapes' importance is magnified
Iwsaiuse Heard has ret .mind her act um
lions against Reynolds, saying her state
merits were coerced by investigators
1’roMH ntors s,i\ Reynolds orchestrated
the recantation, but (art tut judge bred
(. Suria |r on Monday barred pros** u
tors from raising that allegation
The prosecutors won .1 crut ml point
when Suria ruled they may play the
tapes for the jury of six blacks and six
whites Defense lawyers had argued the
tapes should lie barred Ixu ause Heard
has denied that the ai Is dost ribed on
them ever happened
Reynolds, who is block, has claimed
he is the target of a rai ml and political
vendetta by Cook County's State s
Attorney Jack O'Malley, who is white
The tapes were the tore of Zopps
opening statement While Reynolds'
wife. Marisol. watt bed without apparent
emotion. Zopp read aloud from tape
transt ripts in which Reynolds dis< ussetl
his and Heard's genitalia
In another conversation, Reynolds and
Heard dismiss m graphic detail Hoard's
si*Mial relationship with her lesbian
lover and Reynold* asked il Heard and
her lover would lie interested in having
sev with him
Zopp apologized to jurors before she
began recounting the conversations
"It's not my language." Zopp said
It’s the language that Congressman
Reynolds t hose to use with Beverly
Heard in his conversation
As Zopp talked. Reynolds stared
down at the defense table ami in i asion
ally took notes
Adam recounted Reynolds' rise from
humble beginnings m tiny Mound
Bayou, Miss . and argued that be was on
trial as a result of "outrageous pressure"
on Heard
“The question is not whether you like
him, not whether you'd yote for him
hut w hether they * an prove him guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt." Adam said
Woman may join Citadel, judge rules
■ DECISION: Only the
Supreme Court can keep
Faulkner out of the ail
male military school now
CHARLESTON. SC. (AP) -
A federal judge c leered the way
for Shannon Faulkner to join
The Citadel's all-male corps of
cadets, ruling Monday that
there is no time to consider an
alternative program designed to
keep her out
The only way the state-sup
ported military i ollege < an pre
vent her from becoming a cadet
is to persuade a higher court to
block her
"Wo will explore all the
options and that includes the
Supreme Court," Citadel
spokesman Terry l.eedotn said.
Faulkner was happy, but she
knows the fight isn't over.
"Even if I don't enter the
corps, some other woman will,
fit‘cause I'll fight it to the end."
she said
The 4th l' S Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled in April that she
must be allowed to become a
cadet unless South Carolina
developed a program giving
similar training to women
The state i ams up with a $10
million women's leadership
program a! Converse College. a
private school in Spartanburg
about 200 miles from The
(atadel in (Charleston.
U S District Judge U Weston
Houck is to hold a trial on the
alternative and rule on its con
stitutionality. tint ho said
there's no time to do that la-fore
Faulkner is to become a cadet
Aug i.! School rules require -
she become a cadet no later
than August She is entering
her junior year
Houck. s< heduled a trial for
Nov. 6,
Faulkner's lawyer, Val
Vojdik, is fighting the alterna
tive program and wants a three
month delay to prepare for the
trial. The state and The Citadel
wanted a quick ruling
"We were concerned the
defendants were trying to jerry
rig a plan held together with
strings and glue and get the
court to approve it.' Vojdik
said
Houc k said the state and The
Citadel were slow in tiling
details about tin- alternative
program, then delayed as
Faulkner's attorneys sought
more information
"Instead of being open and
fair as they promised, it has
been business as usual fur the
defendants." he wrote " They
have continued to make the
plaintiffs dig for every pns ?• of
Information they get As a
result, this case is not even near
Iteing in a position to try
Faulkner has been taking day
classes at fhe Citadel since
lanuarv tl)'M under Houck’s
but she has not boon
allowed to take military train
ing while the case has wound
through the courts
Virginia, which has the only
other state supported, all-male
military college, is creating a
women's leadership program at
Mary Baldwin (iollege to keep
women out of the Virginia
Military Institute
The 4th Circuit has approved
that program The fustice
Department has appealed to the
Supreme Tonrt The Virginia
program begins in the fall, as
does the Converse program
Also Monday. I tulkner’s
lawyers asked Houck to order
I he Citadel to allow her to play
the bagpl jms as a hand member
if slie becomes a iidet
Faulkner fias failed a flute audi
tion for the hand, but the
motion said the college allows
men a cliam e to learn bagpipe
even if they do not play when
they enroll
‘Motor voter’ law upheld
after California challenge
■ RULING: f ederal court
says law is within
Congress’ power to
regulate elections
SAN FRANCISCO (Al*|
Rejecting Cov Pete Wilson's
i hallenge, a federal appeals
court today uphold thu fmier
ul "motor votur" lavs, which
lots poop In register to vole
when they apply for drivers'
lit enses or welfare
The law was within Con
gress' constitutional power to
regulate federal elm lions, said
the ttlh C S Circuit Court of
Appeals in a 10 ruling
The law, supporter! largely
by Heims rats, took tiffts t this
vear but was resisted by VV'il
sou and four other Kepublu an
governors, who refused to
implement it The governors
of Illinois Michigan, Penn
sylvania and South Carolina
(tuned Wilson in arguing that
the law violated states' rights
and would he costly
Hv requiring states to create
federal voter registration
agencies" out of slate agencies.
Congress reached into "the
heart of slate sovereignty,
('.illitorni.i Deputy Attorney
Ceneral Cyrus Kn Wards told
tin* court last month
But the court said the Con
stitution gi\es (iongress broad
power to regulate federal elet
lions, even if states must hear
the i ost
"Congress may conscript
state agencies to carry out vot
er registration without i otn
pensation" for federal
alfM lions, the i iiurst ruled
1 he (ustii e Department says
2 million new voters have n»g
tstered nationwide since tile
law took effect, a sharp
im reuse over the same period
last year
The law has been upheld so
fiir by every court that i on
sidered it, including a federal
appeals court last month m
Chit ago Pennsylvania
dropped its challenge after ios
mg its first court contest 1 k>< i
sums are pending in Michigan
and South Carolina
l lte law was defended ill
court by the Clinton athnims
trillion and a coalition ol
minority groups and voting
rights advocates
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