Turner case lacks physical evidence
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“A lot of it will have to do with statements of witnesses,” said District Attorney General Dale Potter, who recently submitted paperwork detailing his evidence in the case against Pamela Rogers Turner.
Turner, 27, faces 28 felony counts of statutory rape and sexual battery by an authority figure for an alleged sexual affair with a 13-year-old student. She is presently awaiting her next court date which is May 25 when she will face a plea or assignment date. That’s when she must enter a plea bargain or go ahead with her Nov. 15 trial date.
She has resigned her position as a Centertown basketball coach and is in the middle of a divorce with her estranged husband, former Warren County High School basketball coach Chris Turner. She left town after her indictment this January.
The question of whether she will plea or go to trial may hinge on what her defense thinks of the evidence prosecutors intend to use in their case against her. Much of the case was laid out recently through a process called discovery, in which prosecutors must reveal what evidence they have against the accused.
Most glaring was the absence of many tangible objects, commonly called physical evidence. The evidence did not include any computer disks containing alleged suggestive chats between the teacher and student as prosecutors said they were unable to gain access to any such online conversations. One witness told investigators the affair may have begun through online chats. The evidence also does not include any suggestive pictures.
Instead, most notable in the physical evidence is the subpoenaing of the cell phone records of both Turner and the student, which reportedly include numerous calls made between the two during the alleged time of the affair. The records do not include any audio, but instead just list the time and duration of calls.
The remaining parts of the physical evidence will have no extensive impact on guilt or innocence as it includes such items as her application for employment, a basketball schedule, her divorce complaint, an article about the alleged affair which appeared in the New York Post in February and various photos of Turner.
While there is not a lot of physical evidence listed, there are 13 witnesses being declared by the state. While other witnesses may be listed later, and not everyone on the list will testify, a preliminary witness list is required so the defense can conduct independent interviews with the proposed witnesses to see what they know about the case.
Included in the state’s witness list are investigators Jason Rowland and Derwin Adcock, the alleged victim and his mother and father, Stephanie George, Timothy Patrick, Chris Turner, Angela Nichols, Anglique Dade, Justin Grissom, Brittany Woodlee, and Simona Lapadat. The exact nature of the testimony anticipated from each of the witnesses has not been revealed.
Prosecutors, in making discovery, are now asking the defense to reveal what witnesses and/or evidence it intends to use.