Julie Stene of Denver hid for nine years – ever since the early morning she awakened half-naked, smeared with mud and in pain, convinced she had been sexually assaulted after passing out at a high school graduation party. Now, says the Denver Post, Stene has a new determination in the wake of a groundbreaking court ruling, one calling for formal criminal charges against the men accused of assaulting her.
In what appears to be a first-of-its- kind ruling in Colorado, District Judge Carlos Samour Jr. concluded that Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers improperly dropped the case. Samour ordered that a special prosecutor be appointed and that sexual-assault charges be filed by Oct. 5 against Clyde Surrell, one of the players at the center of the University of Colorado’s football recruiting scandal, and another man.