By Drew Singer
PITTSBURGH, Jan 16 (Reuters) - An Ohio football player
seeking to have his rape trial moved and closed to the public is
blaming notoriety fueled by an online activist group, according
to documents obtained on Wednesday by Reuters.
Ma'Lik Richmond, 16, is one of two members of a
Steubenville, Ohio, high school football team charged with
raping a classmate at a party attended by many teammates last
August.
His attorney, Walter Madison, filed motions this week
arguing that closing the trial to the public would be the only
way to protect witnesses from exposure by Anonymous, an online
activist hacking organization.
Through an active presence on social media as well as at
rallies in Steubenville, Anonymous and its supporters have
accused authorities of failing to charge players who might have
been involved in order to protect the school's football program.
Motions filed by Madison mention Anonymous a dozen times in
seven pages, citing the group's threats to break into personal
computer accounts and disclose sensitive information about
anyone who helps with what it sees as an attempted cover-up.
"Due to Anonymous' threats and the heightened emotional
state of the city, witnesses are afraid to testify for fear of
being viewed as assisting Ma'Lik Richmond," one motion said. "If
material witnesses are reluctant to testify, this will
jeopardize Ma'Lik Richmond's constitutional right to present a
defense."
The case shot to national prominence earlier this month
when Anonymous publicized a picture of the alleged rape victim
being carried by her wrists and ankles by two young men.
The group also released a video showing several other young
men joking about an alleged assault.
Richmond and Trent Mays, 16, are to be tried as juveniles
next month in Steubenville, a city of 19,000 near the
Pennsylvania border where football has a powerful influence.
Dan Tierney, spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Mike
DeWine, said prosecutors were reviewing the motions. He did not
say if the attorney general's office planned to contest them.
A hearing on the motions before visiting Hamilton County
Judge Tom Lipps will be held in Jefferson County Common Please
Court on Jan. 25.
In Ohio, it is easier to get juvenile hearings closed than
it is adult trials.
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