3
Howard Authorities Accused of Poor Judgment in Charging Three Teens
By Phuong Ly and Ylan Q. Mui
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, April 24, 2004; Page B01
One of three Howard County high school students who authorities say were falsely accused of rape by a schoolmate described his ordeal as a "nightmare" yesterday, saying authorities should have used "better judgment" before arresting the three and jailing them for nearly a week.
"It was just very hard," said
Demitris Myrick, 18, speaking publicly about the case for the first time. "I believe I didn't deserve what happened to me or to my two frie
ds. [Authorities] should have had better judgment. They could have had a better process of doing it."
Joined by his mother, Cathey Jones, at a news conference in their attorney's Baltimore
r
r
off
ce, Myrick said that if police had been more deliberate in their investigation o
f the alleged incident April 15 at Mount Hebron High School, they might have discovered fairly quickly that the 15-year-old female accuser's report was not true. She told police that the sexual assault occurred in a first-floor boys' restroom at the school.
Myrick said he thinks race played a part in the police decision to arrest the three -- an assertion that authorities denied.
Myrick and his two friends are black, and the girl is white.
"They thought I was guilty as soon as I walked into the door," Myrick said, adding that he believes law enforcement officials often consider African American males to be "guilty until proven innocent."
The girl's mother s
aid yesterday that her daughter's rape allegation was true. But prosecutors reiterated that sexual assault charges against Myrick and the two others will be dismissed because
the girl has d
isa
vow
ed her stor
y.
"She never admitted that [a rape] didn't happen, because it did happen," the girl's mother
said in a brief telephone interview from her Howard County home. Neither she nor her daughter would comment further, and their attorney, Gary Wiessner, referred all questions to prosecutors.
Howard State's Attorney Timothy J. McCrone, who announced Thursday that the girl had "backed off her original complaint completely," declined to comment yesterday on the mother's assertion. McCrone has said his office is "trying to help this girl get some help."
The mother said reports about her daughter recanting are "not true. It's a lie."
Despite those remarks, however, a spokesman for McCrone said prosecutors still int
end to file court papers early next week that will lead to the dismissal of rape and other charges against the three students. They were arrested April 15, shortly after the girl's
report
, charg
ed as adults and ja
iled for six days, until prosecutors agreed Wednesday to their release.
The girl initially told police that she was taken into the restroom by
Myrick, Ch
ristopher Berry, 16, and Roderick Rudolph, 15. According to a police affidavit filed in court, the girl said Myrick held her down while Berry raped her and Rudolph watched the door. In interviews with police, however,
the suspects said that what occurred in the restroom was consensual sex, the affidavit stated.
The Washington Post generally does not identify juveniles involved in crimes unless they are charged as adults.
McCrone said the girl recanted her story after several students gave statements to authorities supporting the suspects' versions of events.
At the news conference yesterday, C
athey Jones said the girl should be charged with filing a false police report. McCrone has said his office does not intend file charges against the girl. He has described h
er as "
;someone wh
o we see as needing assista
nce, not prosecution."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004Apr23.html[/u
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