By Jim Haley
Herald Writer
EVERETT — On the eve of a trial for a Marysville mother and teacher charged with child rape, a Snohomish County judge ruled Tuesday that a jury will be allowed to hear about concerns that a 14-year-old alleged victim was spending too much time with her.
But the jury might be confused by the fact that the boy’s mother twice sought court protective orders to keep schoolteacher Susan G. Lemery, 38, away from her son, the judge also ruled.
The boy was later identified as one of two alleged 14-year-old victims of Lemery, a former Mukilteo School District teacher who frequently had her son’s friends over to her home in Marysville.
The trial is scheduled to start next week and could last three weeks. A panel of between 60 and 80 jurors will be brought in Friday to begin orientation and to fill out questionnaires.
Prosecutors say they will introduce genetic evidence showing that a semen stain on a comforter of Lemery’s bed contained a mixture of cells from her and one of the victims. The boy alleged that he and Lemery had sex on top of the comforter.
Lemery previously declined to take advantage of plea negotiations with prosecutors, and in December the prosecutor doubled the number of charges against her.
She’s charged with three counts of third-degree rape of a child in April 2001. She’s also charged with three counts of child molestation between October 2000 and April 2001.
In court Tuesday, defense attorney David Allen sought to completely exclude the protective orders sought by the mother of one of the victims. He said they are not relevant to the trial. Besides, he added, the two temporary orders, filed in the latter months of 2000, were later dismissed by court commissioners.
But deputy prosecutor Lisa Paul argued the jury needs to hear about the concerns of the mother, a woman who thought Lemery was driving a wedge between mother and son. Lemery’s persistence in seeing the boy also shows "her intent to isolate him emotionally from his mother and tie him to" Lemery.
The activities, Paul said, showed the need of the defendant to keep in contact with the victim.
Superior Court Judge Kenneth Cowsert ruled that the orders themselves might serve to confuse a jury, but the mother’s concerns and any evidence of Lemery continuing contact with the boy could go to the jury.
On other issues, a series of Lemery contacts with young teen-agers were the subject of more court argument. Among them were Lemery securing herbal "energy pills" for youngsters, letting underage teens drive the family Suburban and allowing children to throw raw eggs.
Testimony about the energy pills will be allowed, the judge said.
You can call Herald Writer Jim Haley at 425-339-3447 or send e-mail to haley@heraldnet.com.
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