"I'm an ass man"
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
Posted on 09/15/2003 12:20:41 PM PDT by bicycle thug
A former Berkeley high school teacher charged with prostitution entered a not guilty plea, ending negotiations and setting the stage for a jury trial next month.
Shannon Williams, 37, entered the plea on Wednesday in Oakland Superior Court, after which Judge Marilyn Greenberg released her on her own recognizance. Williams had been arrested Aug. 18 by an undercover Oakland police officer who allegedly arranged to pay her $250 for sex.
In a scene similar to last week, a line of about a dozen Williams supporters, sporting leopard-print bustiers and stiletto hills, carried signs advocating the decriminalization of prostitution.
"We're wearing leopard prints in solidarity with Shannon, because she was wearing leopard-print lingerie when she was busted," said Robyn Few of San Francisco, who is fighting her own prostitution arrest, which she claimed was personally ordered by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Stacey Swimme, a 23-year-old pre-law student, was toting a sign reading, "Out of work prostitute -- will whore for food."
"I'm not actually a prostitute," she confessed. "I see this whole thing as performance art."
Swimme was arrested last week for removing her blouse and bra at Williams' initial court hearing.
"I was a big hero to my cellmates," she said. "Most of them are prostitutes, and they saw the whole thing on TV. I spent my time in jail doing a lot of legal outreach, telling them about their basic constitutional rights."
Carol Leigh, who has been an activist in the sex industry for more than 20 years, said decriminalizing prostitution is a feminist issue.
"It's a question of who has control of our bodies," she said. "If we don't have the right to say yes, it implies that other women don't have the right to say no."
After the plea, Williams' lawyer, Katya Komisaruk, indicated that her strategy at trial will focus on arresting officer Mark Turpin, who she said may have engaged in unrelated incidents of inappropriate behavior, which she is investigating.
"Juries need to know if a person isn't honest, and moral character is an important issue in a trial," she said.
Oakland police spokesman Sgt. Rob Stewart said Komisaruk appears to be engaging in a tactic that defense lawyers commonly use when they have a weak case, which he said is to "attack the character of the police officers involved."
Stewart said the Oakland Police Department and its internal affairs division aren't aware of the allegations Komisaruk vaguely cited about Turpin.
Plea bargain negotiations broke down last week when Komisaruk rejected the district attorney's offer of a reduced charge of disturbing the peace, which would have entailed six months' probation and a $100 fine.
"We'll be having ongoing discussions," said Komisaruk, who is holding out for dismissal of all charges.
(Excerpt) Read more at bayarea.com ...
8/27, Oakland: According to the police report, undercover officer Mark Turpin announced: "I'm an ass man." Moments later, Oakland police officers swarmed into the apartment, surrounding Shannon Williams, a former Berkeley High School teacher charged with prostitution. Ms. Williams, a 5'1" woman, was held at gunpoint while police officers laughed and joked. The officers initially refused to allow her to get dressed, saying that she must remain in her negligée as they transported her to the police station. She was forced to plead and cry, before they would permit her to put on clothing. On learning of the case, community members are voicing their dissatisfaction with police conduct and the squandering of police resources on prostitution...
I support this being legalized and regulated. Not because I like this behavior, or support people wasting their lives this way; but I don't find prohibitions to do more then keep things like this glamourous in some people's eyes. I know there are better ways then that to combat it. (I know, my Libertarian side is showing here,)
This woman is wasting her life, and I am flat amazed she would sink into the nasty world of this sex trade.
Sorry to make work for you in correcting this.
Private performances included?
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
But I thought offering to pay someone for sex was illegal? Why wasn't the officer arrested? If he wasn't serious, then no crime. If I arrange to pay a person for a stolen bike, but don't, has he sold a stolen bike to me and have I purchased a stolen bike? Of course not.
Sorry, just pointing out how screwed up such prohibitory "laws" are.
Is it just me, or does this make no sense whatsoever?
Reminds me of "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded." Yogi Berra
Your Honor, there is a perfectly good explanation for my clients actions prior to her arrest. My client was simply acting like a prostitute. She did not actually perform any sexual acts. In fact your Honor, my client was working as an independent undercover agent and was merely trying to assist the police in busting johns at the time of her arrest.
this is her definition of 'legal outreach'?...seems more like supercilious lectures on subjects she isn't qualified to teach..
Do such things exist
any more?! With videos
so easy to get,
my impression is
that teenage girls who like sex
learn all the "tricks" young.
(I've had check out girls
just flat out say they enjoy
the two weirdest things . . .)
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