“The AG’s reasoning is essentially this: The woman knew she was in a prison, so what did she expect?” wrote Laurie Roberts in the Arizona Republic. “No, seriously. That’s the reasoning.”
On Tuesday, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a former prosecutor, disputed those characterizations.
“Our office was disappointed to see a misleading opinion piece that was recently published regarding the brutal assault of a Department of Corrections employee that occurred in January 2014,” said a statement released by his office. “The Attorney General’s Office is taking affirmative steps to make sure that justice is served for the victim of this heinous crime. We would ask all parties to respect the integrity of the legal process.”
The controversy focuses on statements that Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Weisbard wrote in a December 19 motion to dismiss the victim’s lawsuit against the state, the warden of the Arizona State Prison Complex — Eyman, and other prison personnel.
The instructor who said she was raped was assigned to teach in a medium-security unit that houses sex offenders and special needs prisoners, including those who are mentally ill, disabled and in need of protective custody, court papers said.
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The state also argued that the teacher “has attempted to recast absolutely routine prison events,” court papers said.
“The problem with Plaintiff’s repeated allegation in this regard is that it is impossible to conclude that such a dangerous situation would have been known and obvious to the defendants without also being known and obvious to the Plaintiff, a teacher who worked on a daily basis in the same environment as the defendants,” the Attorney General’s Office said in court papers.
The instructor accused the prison and the state of negligence, false imprisonment and violation of her civil rights, court papers said.
“After being moved from the visitation room and during the approximate 1½ hours (the teacher) administered the pre-GED exam in Classroom Two, not a single corrections officer entered the classroom to perform a security check on the inmates and the welfare of (the teacher),” the lawsuit said.
