tory (victoria) bowen

i've written about her before

here

and here

yesterday i received the following email from her (i asked for her permission to publish it before doing so)

Family, Friends, and Supporters-
As some of you may have already heard, I received a phone call yesterday from the District Attorney saying that they will not retry my rape case. As you can imagine, I was and am devastated. The District Attorney (D.A.) cited that the Judge has made it too difficult to continue to prosecute Pamir Safi, a man who has been arrested for rape on three different occasions for three different women. The D.A's office stated that without the Judge allowing the prosecutors to allow the previous victims to testify (as they did the first trial), without the Judge allowing my entire testimony, without my vial of urine (which broke inthe mail), it is difficult to hope for a case that they could win due to all the evidence which has been gaged, bared, or thrown out of this case by the Judge.So today, Pamir Safi, is a free man for the third time. What is there to stop him from a fourth?Nothing.
For the past three years this trial has been a driving force in my life, and I pursued justice tenaciously. Ican not change this ruling, but I can change how the law works, and so can you. Please do not give up, for a broken system only means that it needs to be fixed.Please find below some ways to help - and forward this to anyone who you think can help.
Thank you for you kind emails, your prayers, hugs,tears, and everything else that you've done for me through the years. This has been a long journey, but now the focus needs to be to change state law, and other states that have archaic laws like Nebraska for the rape cases to come.
WAYS TO HELP:
Contact the Judiciary Committee. The DA sited that they possibly could have retried the case if the state had the authority to appeal a Judge's ruling. Make sure that there are checks and balances in the Judicial process that allows the state to appeal if a Judge continues to rule unfairly. Write a letter,call, or go to a session. The Judiciary Committee must determine which issues/bills they will hear/vote on by JANUARY 9th. SO START A LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN. The Judge can not act as both Judge and jury in cases like these. The jury should be able to hear testimony fully in the words of the victim, not a watered down list that only the Judge and the Defense Attorney approves of.

Contact Information:Phone: (402) 471-2622 Address: Room 1103, State Capitol, Lincoln NE 68509
Meeting Dates:During session, the Judiciary Committee meets on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in Room 1113 on the 1st Floor of the Capitol.
Chairperson: Sen. Brad Ashford (402) 471-2622
Vice Chairperson: Sen. Steve Lathrop (402) 471-2623
Members:Sen. Ernie Chambers (402) 471-2612
Sen. Vickie D. McDonald 402) 471-2631
Sen. Amanda McGill (402) 471-2610
Sen. Dwite Pedersen (402) 471-2885
Sen. Pete Pirsch (402) 471-2621
Sen. DiAnna Schimek (402) 471-2632

In addition, you can donate to the efforts that areoccurring at the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, please visit WWW.BOWENDC.COM for more information.
Lastly, for more information regarding my case, or ifyou have not signed the petition yet - please visit:http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/freespeechforsurvivors/index.html



Published Friday January 4, 2008No new trial in 'rape' ban case
BY PAUL HAMMEL WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

(No new trial in 'rape' ban case)
LINCOLN — A case that drew national attention after a judge barred the word "rape" from court testimony will not be retried, the alleged victim said Thursday.
Tory Bowen, a former University of Nebraska-Lincoln student who now lives in the Washington, D.C., area,said she was told Thursday by Lancaster County prosecutors that her case, the subject of two previous mistrials, would not be tried a third time.
She said she just recently had received a letter saying that a new trial of her alleged assailant,Pamir Safi, was scheduled to begin Feb. 19.
"I'm absolutely shocked," Bowen said in a telephone interview. "He's free. . . . I can't comprehend it."
Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey, whom Bowen saidshe talked to Thursday, declined to comment Thursdayevening.
Safi, a 34-year-old Army reservist, was accused ofsexually assaulting Bowen after a night of drinking ata downtown Lincoln bar following a Halloween party in2005.
Bowen has maintained that she doesn't remember leavingwith Safi and was unconscious and could not consent tosex. Safi claimed otherwise.
Clarence Mock, Safi's defense attorney, could not bereached Thursday night. Previously he has said thatthere was no evidence his client had sexuallyassaulted anyone and that the judge's rulings werefair in ensuring a fair trial.
Two previous trials ended in mistrials: the first, in2006, because the jury could not reach a unanimousverdict; the second, last summer, after the judgeruled that street protests had interfered with theselection of a jury.
In banning the term "rape" and other words during thetrial, Lancaster County District Judge JeffreCheuvront cited a state law that allows judges to banwords that could be unfairly prejudicial to a criminaldefendant, who is presumed innocent until provenguilty.
He also noted that the term "rape" had been deletedfrom the state's lawbooks in 1975.
Cheuvront later clarified his ruling, saying the"equally descriptive term" of "sexual assault" couldbe used.
Before the second trial, advocates for rape victimsseized on the judge's ruling, saying it was anunreasonable restraint of free speech that woulddamage a victim's credibility with jurors.
Street protests followed, as did unsuccessful attemptsto have a federal judge or the Nebraska Supreme Courtoverturn the ruling.
A federal judge ruled that although he would not"stick his nose" into the state court case, he saw noreason for banning the word "rape."
"For the life of me, I do not understand why a judgewould tell an alleged rape victim that she cannot sayshe was 'raped' when she testifies in a trial about rape," wrote U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf on Sept.25.
"Juries aren't stupid."
Wendy Murphy, a Massachusetts lawyer who took up Bowen's cause, is appealing the limits on speech to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Murphy, who is a former prosecutor, said she disagreed with the decision not to retry Safi, even if Bowen's statements were the only evidence that could be presented.
"If you believe in a case, you should proceed," Murphy said. "But if your hands are so tied that your witness cannot testify honestly . . . I can understand (not retrying the case)."
Bowen said she couldn't understand how Safi could be"walking the streets."
"This is justice denied," she said, sobbing.

an older article about the first two trials
Rape
Omaha woman FIGHTS court in SEXUAL ASSAULT case

..................Bowen’s Jessica Rabbit costume is something defense attorneys would later use against her and was quite a departure from the business suits she typically wore to her job in the state senate and her work as Director of Development for the College Republican National Committee.
Bowen and Safi shared a drink. There is video of Safi leaving the bar nearly carrying an intoxicated Bowen, who now believes she had been drugged. When she woke up the next morning Safi was allegedly raping her, or in Chaeuvront language translation, “having sex” with her.
“I went to the ER the morning that I was raped and filed charges then,” said Bowen. “I told a police officer what happened and the sexual assault nurse did an examination. I was at the ER for nearly seven hours and then the next day went in and made the initial police statement.
“I know the difference between sex and rape. If it was sex, I wouldn’t be speaking to you,” Bowen continued. “For me it is committing perjury. If I take and oath to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth and then am given a list of words that I am not allowed to say it isn’t right – it is just bizarre. When I was originally told by the state prosecutor that I would have to put language restrictions on my testimony I was heartbroken. It was difficult enough to come forward. It is difficult to use the words..............