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Girl testifies shower was prank
■The student wants her
valedictorian title back after
it was revoked for showering
in the boys’ locker room
By Jeff Barnard
The Associated Press
COQUILLE — A high school
senior who lost the title of valedic
torian for showering with some
boys testified Wednesday that it
was just a spring-fever prank, and
she had skinny dipped or soaked
in a hot tub with the same boys.
Following her appearance in
Coos County Circuit Court, Leslie
Shorb, 18, said if she had it to do
over, she would not take the show
er in the Powers High School boys’
locker room and now wants to get
on with her life, studying engi
neering at Oregon State University
and someday raising a family.
“I just want my valedictorian
status back,” she said. “That’s it.”
Shorb went to court for a prelimi
nary injunction restoring her title as
valedictorian of Powers High
School and allowing her to address
her class at graduation Friday.
After hearing testimony and
sharply questioning Shorb’s attor
ney about legal issues, Judge
Richard Barron said he would is
sue a written opinion by Thurs
day morning. *
Shorb testified that she walked
into the boys’ locker room during
the last period of the day on April
11, undressed and went into the
shower, where five other boys
joined her after their physical edu
cation class.
“There was no reason besides I
thought it would be funny,” Shorb
testified. “I don’t know. Some
thing to do, I guess.”
Under cross-examination, Shorb
acknowledged that she gets a little
crazy when springtime comes.
Asked if she considered her behav
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ior bizarre, she answered, “Not for
me.”
Asked if she knew she would be
disciplined, she answered, “If
they found out.”
Three senior boys who showered
with Shorb testified they did not
feel their privacy was invaded or
that they were sexually harassed in
any way. There had been no touch
ing or sexual overtones. They
added that they had all skinny
dipped or soaked naked in a hot tub
with Shorb on previous occasions.
Don Grotting, principal of Pow
ers High School and superintend
ent of the Powers School District,
testified that he imposed a sus
pension of 10 days, twice the limit
noted in the student handbook
and twice what he had ever hand
ed out for fighting, because the
shower incident was so unusual.
In closing arguments, Shorb’s
attorney, Charles Zennache of Eu
gene, argued that Grotting had no
authority under the rules for stu
dent conduct or choosing the vale
dictorian to take the title away on
the basis of a student’s behavior.
He added that Shorb was never
told a specific written rule that she
had violated or given a chance to
respond.
“They washed away seven se
mesters of hard work for five to six
minutes of an error in judgment
where nobody was harmed,” Zen
nache said.
The judge said of Zennache’s ar
gument: “That would allow any
one who commits criminal acts to
speak at graduation. Partly what
you’re asking me to do is partly
what courts don’t do, unless there
is a clear violation. I don’t substi
tute my judgment for the school.”
“We’re not asking you to substi
tute your judgment,” Zennache
said. “What we are saying is they
don’t have the authority to do
that.”
Attorney Thomas Moore, repre
senting the school district, said in
closing only that the school’s ac
tions were appropriate, legal and
should not be overturned.
Grotting testified he felt Shorb
had invaded a place where boys
expected to have pri vacy, violated
prohibitions against immodest
dress and disrupted the academic
environment.
He said he learned of the prank
in a telephone call from the moth
er of a boy who had not been pres
ent. The mother was very upset.
Shop teacher Phillip Wolcott
testified that he noticed no disrup
tion as a result of the shower inci
dent until newspapers and televi
sion stations started calling the
school after the punishment was
meted out and Grotting ordered a
“lockdown,” with paper put over
the windows and the doors locked.
Shorb testified she had been
told by Grotting last January that
her grade point average of 3.88
had earned her co-valedictorian
honors.
After the hearing, Shorb said
she has no plans to continue the
lawsuit if she is denied the chance
to speak at graduation.
Though she hired an agent to
screen the media attention created
by her prank, she had no plans for
show business, and was more in
terested in a career as a marine en
gineer. However, rather than leave
her home state to attend a mar
itime academy, she plans to go to
Oregon State University in the fall.
If granted the chance to speak at
graduation, Shorb said she would
make it short and simple, with no
reference to her prank or legal bat
tle with the school.
“I’d just simply welcome every
body and tell them this is a group
of 16 bright young kids, and
they’ll do fine in life,” she said of
her class.
Gov. Bush may delay
killer’s execution date
By Mark Babinek
The Associated Press
HOUSTON — Days after Texas
Gov. George W. Bush advocated
DNA testing to “erase any doubts”
from some death penalty cases, he
said Wednesday he was leaning
toward delaying the looming exe
cution of a convicted killer.
Bush, campaigning in Albu
querque, N.M., told reporters he
was “inclined” to give Ricky
Nolen McGinn a 30-day reprieve
as his lawyers push for renewed
DNA testing of crime scene evi
dence. McGinn is scheduled to be
executed Thursday for the rape
and killing of his stepdaughter.
“I’m inclined to because I want
to see whether or not — I want the
man to have his full day in court,”
said Bush, the presumed Republi
can presidential nominee. “If there
is any doubt, any outstanding evi
dence that exonerates him from
the rape we ought to look at it.”
In more than five years in office,
Bush has never used his power to
grant a one-time reprieve to a con
demned inmate. During that time,
128 men and two women have
been executed.
The Texas governor may com
mute a death sentence only upon
the recommendation of the state
parole board. Once, two years ago,
Bush agreed to reduce self-pro
claimed serial killer Henry Lee Lu
cas’ sentence to life in prison
when he determined the evidence
was far too weak.
Bush’s statement came a day af
ter the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals denied new DNA testing
for McGinn, although he still has
last-ditch motions before the 5th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Bush said he would wait until
McGinn has exhausted all of his
appeals before acting.
The possibility of the unusual
move by the governor comes a
week after Bush said he support
ed the use of DNA testing to scruti
nize pending death penalty cases.
McGinn is scheduled to be exe
cuted for the 1993 rape and killing
of his 12-year-old stepdaughter,
Stephanie Rae Flanary. The parole
board voted 18-0 on Wednesday to
deny his request for commutation.
McGinn’s lawyers had persuad
ed the trial judge to recommend
retesting of hair and semen. State
District Judge Steven Ellis referred
the request to the appeals court,
which rejected it Tuesday on pro
cedural grounds.
While conceding that there was
incriminating evidence against
McGinn, including DNA evi
dence, his attorneys said some evi
dence wasn’t tested because of in
adequate technology.
Barry Scheck, the former O.J.
Simpson attorney who specializes
in DNA issues, offered to pay for the
new DNA testing in McGinn’s case,
which he said is superior to that
done before McGinn’s 1995 trial.
“Basic decency and common
sense tell you, you do not execute
people if there’s a DNA test that
can show you’re innocent or
guilty,” Scheck said Wednesday
on NBC’s “Today” show.