Posted on 03/30/2015 3:27:17 PM PDT by Colofornian
BOUNTIFUL — A judge ruled Monday that a former Davis High School teacher will face separate trials on charges of sexually abusing three students.
Brianne Altice, 35, faces a total of 14 felony charges — including rape, forcible sodomy, forcible sexual abuse, unlawful sexual activity with a minor and dealing in materials harmful to a minor — stemming from alleged sexual relationships with three former Davis High students who were 16 or 17 years old at the time.
Second District Judge Thomas Kay ruled Monday that it was "appropriate and necessary" to split the 10 original charges into three trials, one relating to each victim.
While there are similarities in all three cases, Kay ruled that they were not connected.
A fourth trial has also been ordered relating to four additional charges alleging Altice had sex with one of the victims while she was out on bail.
Altice's attorneys argued that lumping the cases together could result in "extreme prejudice" by a jury. Prosecutors, however, contended that the three cases together painted a picture of Altice's motives.
A scheduling conference has been set for April 9.
The former English teacher, currently being held in the Davis County Jail, is accused of sending explicit messages to the then-teenagers and meeting them for sex, including in her car and at her home. She was arrested in October 2013.
Kay ruled March 16 that an alleged confession while she was questioned by Davis County sheriff's deputies about one of the victims will be permissible at trial.
Earlier this month, one of the three former students who allegedly had sexual relations with Altice filed a civil lawsuit claiming the school district should have done a better job screening prospective employers and providing better training.
The student, his parents and his attorneys are seeking at least $674,000 in damages.
I've posted this before, but I think it bears repeating.
When my dad was 17 he was a B-29 tailgunner over North Korea. That's hardly a "kid."
If the guys were 9 or 10, the teacher should be put away for life. But, to say this attractive woman "forced" 16 - 17 year-old males into having sex with her is hilarious.
Could be. They’re “mongoloids,” not meaning anything insulting, but simply that American Indians, some Russians and most Asians have facial features referred to as “mongoloid.”
So she could easily be at least part Apache.
The problem is that the boys may be “of legal age,” but the teacher violated a position of trust. I had a friend who had been placed in foster care (because his mother had died and his father was a paranoid schizophrenic who tried to drown him in the toilet bowl) who was very handsome and reached his full adult height and maturity fairly early.
He was “seduced” by a foster mother when he was about 14, and then at the next place he was sent after the caseworker found out about it (but of course, did not report it), another foster mother did exactly the same.
He was a wonderful guy but totally gay when I knew him as an adult. He told me he couldn’t stand women because of that first contact where somebody he had trusted had taken advantage of his situation.
These boys are not having girlfriends and normal lives. They’re having to perform like sex toys for some depraved older, messed-up woman who can’t find any adult men.
Not guilty.
She looks like someone from the movies but I can’t recall the name. Anyone?
they are minors
and having an authority figure like a boss or teacher doing it is even worse
Are you saying you are in favor of sexual contact between teenagers and adults, particularly those involved in a student-teacher relationship?
Think about this question very carefully before you answer (if you possess the intestinal fortitude to give a truthful answer).
Very strange. It disgusts me when I see all these (probably elderly) men here cheering on this woman, who probably destroyed these kids’ lives. They’re certainly never going to have a normal relationship with a woman again, and many of them end up hating women.
Violating a position of trust is a horrible, horrible thing, and the ones who do this are the people for whom it would better to have a millstone tied around their necks and be thrown into the sea.
The double standard is sickening; this rapist should never see the light of day again. If the genders were reversed she wouldn’t...
In what State? Because the range is from 13 to 18, and you said "execution." So a 17 year old in an 18 year old State - hang 'em. But a 13 year old in a 13 year old State - have a nice day.
I'll bet you believe 18, 19 & 20 year olds in the military should be arrested for drinking beer before they're 21, too.
This is why juries are allowed to nullify the law itself.
I *strongly* dispute those last six words...
If they are breaking the law, yes.
Do you believe in a nation of laws or do you think we should just make it up and apply it differently depending on whims?
16-17 year old people are young men and women...in many parts of the world they lead families....years ago, in this country they were considered no longer children.
I more than understand your concern, but I have worked with young men 13-18 for many years in the juvenile justice system and I can ASSURE you that the older ones are not children by any figment of anyones imagination.
I further understand that rules concerning such actions in a school environment should have zero tolerance and in that respect she is, of course guilty. However, charge her with the correct offense, not seduction....she seduced noone but is guilty of violating her responsibilities as a teacher and state employee.....PERIOD.
Do you believe in a nation of laws or do you think we should just make it up and apply it differently depending on whims?
One of our laws is called jury nullification, for when the law is an ass. Like arresting a soldier for having a beer, even though it's "against the law." A jury can simply look at the charge and toss it out because it's absurd. That's the law.
Also, look up age of consent. South Carolina gets down to 14, I think that's the lowest in the US - I thought it was 13. Other countries get down to 12. These are ages based on physical maturity and go back thousands of years. In any event, you were the one who said violation of these laws should result in "execution."
And don't even get me started on jurisdiction limitations.
I said an adult having sex with a minor should be a death penalty offense. Only a moron would think I meant it for 2 minors.
The law either applies to everyone or nobody.
Okay, so parents should be able to boot out their 16 year olds so they can get jobs and support themselves.
Only a moron would think I was talking about two minors.
The law applies to whom it says it applies - that's the law about the law.
Those would be different. However, that is not what happened in this case. This case seems subjectively to bend the rules of symmetry a bit.
Very strange. It disgusts me when I see all these (probably elderly) men here cheering on this woman, who probably destroyed these kids’ lives.
What’s stranger is that I’ve debated Christianity with some of them.
I said an adult having sex with a minor should be a death penalty offense. Only a moron would think I meant it for 2 minors.
“Legalists” are ever eager to justify their own sin.
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