Appeals court rejects appeal in Myers Park sex-assault suit
Former student said she was sexually assaulted off-campus by another student; Ruling sides with CMS, CMPD
The following article appeared in the July 31, 2024, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
Federal appeals court affirms ruling against Myers Park High student who sued the school district and police; likely ends case, which stemmed from a sexual assault report in 2015
A three-judge appeals court panel this week affirmed the decision reached last year by a lower court (courtroom sketch, above) in the case of a former Myers Park High student who sued Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and the city of Charlotte over the handling of her sexual assault allegations in 2015. (Sketch by Jerry McJunkins)
by Cristina Bolling and Tony Mecia
An appeals court in Richmond, Va., on Monday denied the appeal of a former Myers Park High student who said she was sexually assaulted as a student in the woods behind the school in 2015 and sued the city of Charlotte and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools over their handling of the incident.
Monday’s ruling, by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, upheld the 2023 verdict of a Charlotte jury and the decisions made in the case by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Conrad.
The jury concluded that the teen, known in court documents as Jane Doe, had been sexually harassed but that CMS was not legally at fault. Conrad had dismissed the portion of the case against Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, the city department that hired and supervised the school resource officer who took the initial report, and limited some of the arguments that the young woman’s lawyers wanted to make.
In its ruling, the appeals court agreed with Conrad that the school resource officer and Myers Park’s vice principal didn’t act in bad faith or seek to impede justice — the legal standard that the plaintiff would need to show.
“A reasonable jury could not find that either official had the intent required to support Jane Doe’s obstruction of justice claim,” the judges wrote in their decision.
Lori Keeton, the lawyer who represented the school resource officer, Bradley Leak, suggested that the ruling vindicates her client, a longtime law enforcement officer, after he endured years of claims that he intentionally covered up a crime: “It has been my honor to represent Officer Leak over these last six years, and I am glad we were able to defeat all claims brought against him in both the Western District of North Carolina and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals so that he is remembered for what he should be — his outstanding service to our community.”