What makes the story below unique is the the vice principal was a female and the accuser a male. There was no electronic evidence (messages or phone calls) that supported the accusations. There was no physical evidence ever produced (example: DNA on clothing) that supported the accusations. There were no witnessed accounts except those provided by the accuser. The accused, who wanted to get the entire ordeal behind her signed a "hold harmless" agreement that meant the accuser, whose identity is protected by law, faces no future civil defamation lawsuit. The accused will not be able to continue her career as productively despite her innocence. Even if the laws change the public nature of the accusations have permanently harmed her reputation.
Our justice system does not handle sexual accusations very justly.
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Appeals court refuses to expunge former assistant Pelham principal's arrest records
A former assistant Pelham High School principal, who in 2014 had school employ sex charges dismissed after a student recanted allegations, has been rebuffed in her attempt to get the charges expunged from court and other agency records.
Catherine Armstrong Bell, 35, was arrested and charged in 2013, and later indicted, with three counts of being a school employee engaging in sexual intercourse with a student younger than 19 and one count of being a school employee engaging in sexual contact involving touching of a student.
Bell has maintained her innocence.
SHELBY COUNTY, Alabama -- Charges against a former assistant principal at Pelham High
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| The assumption that children always tell the truth led to 19 executions in the Salem Massachusetts witch trials of the 1600's. False suspicions of witchery are similar in emotional response to today's false suspicions of sexual motivation. |
But in December 2014 the case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning that Bell can't face charges for allegations concerning the allegations in the future.
According to the order dismissing the charges, the victim recanted and was no longer cooperating with the prosecution. In exchange for the dismissal, Bell agreed to release the district attorney's office, all law enforcement and the complainant, from criminal and civil liability.
Bell's attorney stated in court documents filed in April 2015 that Bell was entitled to have the expungement of all of her criminal records in the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center, the Shelby County district and circuit courts, the State Department of Education, Shelby County Board of Education, Pelham High School, Shelby County Juvenile Court, the county's Department of Human Resources, Pelham Police Department and the sheriff's department. "She is also entitled to the return of her professional certificates, reinstatement in her former position or an equivalent position, and back pay," her petition states.
Shelby County Circuit Judge Dan Reeves, in June 2015, denied Bell's expungement request, saying he had "no authority to grant a petition for expungement of a record where the charge is excluded" under the law. The list of charges that can't be expunged are charges of violence and many sexual crimes.
Bell appealed and on Friday the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals denied the appeal.
In its response, state prosecutors argued that Bell's request "should be denied because the offenses in three of the cases that had been dismissed were nonconsensual sex offenses and the last case, a misdemeanor, involved an offense that was particularly reprehensible," the appeals court stated in its order.
"Bell responded that, because the events never occurred, the cases could not meet that criteria for exclusion from expungement," the appeals court stated.
There is no provision within the expungement law for a direct appeal of the denial of a petition for expungement, the appeals court stated. "The ruling of the court shall be subject to certiorari review and shall not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion," the appeals court, citing the law, stated in its order.
"Because there was no statutory right of appeal from the denial of Bell's petitions for expungement, this appeal must be dismissed for want of jurisdiction," the appeals court stated.
Bell appealed and on Friday the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals denied the appeal.
In its response, state prosecutors argued that Bell's request "should be denied because the offenses in three of the cases that had been dismissed were nonconsensual sex offenses and the last case, a misdemeanor, involved an offense that was particularly reprehensible," the appeals court stated in its order.
"Bell responded that, because the events never occurred, the cases could not meet that criteria for exclusion from expungement," the appeals court stated.
There is no provision within the expungement law for a direct appeal of the denial of a petition for expungement, the appeals court stated. "The ruling of the court shall be subject to certiorari review and shall not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion," the appeals court, citing the law, stated in its order.
"Because there was no statutory right of appeal from the denial of Bell's petitions for expungement, this appeal must be dismissed for want of jurisdiction," the appeals court stated.
Alabama Legislature approves measure to expunge criminal records: The measure requires payment of a $300 administrative fee and the expunging of a person's criminal record would require a petition to an Alabama circuit court in the jurisdiction where the charge was filed.
The Alabama Legislature in 2014 enacted the expungement law to allow people who have been arrested, but not convicted of a crime, to have their arrest record wiped away. The expungement law does not allow the erasing of violent felony charges and it does not authorize the wiping of a record where a person has been convicted.
Updated at 12:34 p.m. May 2, 2016 to include that the complainant was also released from liability in the dismissal
The Alabama Legislature in 2014 enacted the expungement law to allow people who have been arrested, but not convicted of a crime, to have their arrest record wiped away. The expungement law does not allow the erasing of violent felony charges and it does not authorize the wiping of a record where a person has been convicted.
Updated at 12:34 p.m. May 2, 2016 to include that the complainant was also released from liability in the dismissal
Original article Found 5/4/16 at http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2016/05/appeals_court_refused_to_expun.html
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Communication with Grace just prior to treatment in Walla Walla, Washington:
ALL Pictures are of life before false memories were recovered.
She is satisfied and happy with our hike overlooking Phoenix
