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Author
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Topic: Trial Underway in Gay Sex Bathroom Trial of Florida Republican
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Paper Trail
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Member # 3269
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posted November 05, 2007 05:42 PM
Waiting to be judged, Rep. Bob Allen watches slow selection
By Travis Reed Associated Press
A Brevard County judge found it difficult Monday to find impartial jurors to try state Rep. Bob Allen on charges that he offered to perform oral sex on an undercover officer in a public bathroom for $20.
Many of those interviewed said they knew about the case and had already made up their mind. The case has been covered extensively in the local newspapers and on television.
"I've heard so much about it and I've seen so much on TV it would be hard," said one man, an engineer who before Allen's arrest had never heard of the Republican from Merritt Island.
It took most of the day, but Judge Oscar Hotusing and lawyers for both sides finally winnowed the list to 22 possibilities for six jury spots. Hotusing asked them to return for further questioning Tuesday, after which opening arguments might begin.
Allen listened hard during the proceedings, his wife sitting nearby. He was raised in the area - near Kennedy Space Center on Florida's Atlantic Coast - and has spent seven years serving it in the Legislature. He is even honored on a plaque at Veteran's Memorial Park, the place he is accused of seeking sex, for its funding before his election. His attorney said the lawmaker was there in preparation for a fundraiser.
But nothing in Allen's resume had caught the jurors' attention so much as his July arrest - news of which broke around the time of U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's bathroom solicitation in Minneapolis.
Hotusing has approved defense requests to strike two statements Allen made to police that brought further trouble. Before being put into a patrol car, he said: "I don't suppose it would help if I said I was a state legislator, would it?" Trying to explain his interaction in the restroom, Allen said he was intimidated by "stocky black guys" he thought would rob him. One of the men was the undercover officer.
Hotusing organized jurors into waves of 14. They were read basic guidelines as a group and then questioned separately - taking almost two hours the first time. Five of the 14 remained possibilities, though some said they had other obligations or weren't certain they could be fair. The later groups proved easier to wade through because fewer had heard of the case.
Defense attorney Greg Eisenmenger estimated they'd have to question at least 100 potential jurors, but it took just 42.
Some who hadn't heard of the case still didn't think they could do it. One woman said it wasn't right to judge others because her son served six years in prison. A man didn't understand English well enough to serve, and another woman said she did not believe in the fundamental presumption of innocence.
[ November 07, 2007, 01:40 PM: Message edited by: Paper Trail ]
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Produce man
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Member # 1608
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posted November 05, 2007 06:04 PM
There's that obsession with gay men again.
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"DON'T TAZE ME, BRO!"
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Scotch On The Rocks
Member
Member # 1148
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posted November 05, 2007 06:39 PM
Looks to me like there's a lot of stories out there about gay Republican men who are married and pubicly deny their homosexuality, yet are accused again and again of asking for for sex in public restrooms.
Seems to be a lot of that. Should it not be reported?
Posts: 250 | From: none of your business | Registered: Jan 2002
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radio & tv
Senior Member
Member # 6035
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posted November 06, 2007 03:11 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Paper Trail:
"I've heard so much about it and I've seen so much on TV it would be hard," said one man
Is he talking about being impartial, or offering an observation?
Posts: 1156 | From: "Sunny" Grand Rapids, MI | Registered: Apr 2004
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Illinois Boy
Senior Member
Member # 1458
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posted November 06, 2007 05:31 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Paper Trail:
Allen listened hard during the proceedings, his wife sitting nearby.
I think the writer was having a giggle.
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“Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882
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Paper Trail
Open Line Veteran
Member # 3269
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posted November 08, 2007 11:13 AM
Attorney in Allen sex case questions officer on bathroom meeting
By TRAVIS REED
Associated Press Writer
VIERA, Fla. - The undercover male police officer allegedly solicited for sex by state Rep. Bob Allen testified Wednesday he was initially scared of the Republican.
Allen's trial on one count of soliciting prostitution crawled into its second day as defense attorney Greg Eisenmenger tried to poke holes in Titusville officer Danny Kavanaugh's testimony.
Kavanaugh and two other undercover officers said they saw Allen acting strange around the public park bathroom while they were conducting surveillance for a burglary investigation. Kavanaugh said he went into a restroom expecting Allen to follow him, but left after a few seconds when he realized a window didn't show a clear view of Allen's approach.
Kavanaugh said he wanted to watch Allen walk up to the bathroom so that he knew what he could expect.
"I had to prepare myself for the reality that I wouldn't be able to see outside of the bathroom once I was inside," Kavanaugh said. "I had to basically psych myself up to go in there."
Once he did return to the restroom, Kavanaugh said, Allen followed him. The officer said they exchanged a quick hello and Kavanaugh entered a handicapped stall to get a paper towel. He said Allen peered over into the stall, then entered it to solicit sex.
Allen pleaded not guilty after being arrested in July. He faces a maximum 60 days in county jail and a $500 fine.
Kavanaugh said the two talked just a few minutes. He testified telling Allen, "I'm looking to get some money. Can you hook me up with $20?"
Kavanaugh said Allen agreed to pay him that amount if the representative could perform oral sex on him, then asked if he was a police officer and suggested they go somewhere more private.
Eisenmenger said it was the police who mentioned money, not Allen, and the representative only went along because he feared being robbed. Even if Allen was hitting on Kavanaugh, Eisenmenger said, it wasn't criminal until the officer introduced money and prostitution.
"So until you suggested money it wasn't illegal, and you can't arrest somebody if they don't do something illegal," Eisenmenger said, raising his voice.
Kavanaugh said he couldn't. He also acknowledged being the first to mention sex by asking Allen, "What do you want me to do?"
Allen then allegedly said, "I don't know what you're into."
"I suggested that I give Mr. Allen (oral sex). Then Mr. Allen suggested he give me (oral sex)," Kavanaugh said. "Then I clarified with him he was still going to pay me 20 bucks. ... He said, 'I wouldn't argue with that.'"
Copyright Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Paper Trail
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Member # 3269
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posted November 09, 2007 01:43 PM
Jury deliberating in case of Florida lawmaker accused of soliciting sex in park men's room
The Associated Press
VIERA, Florida: The jury hearing the case of a conservative Florida lawmaker accused of offering to pay for sex in a park men's room began deliberating Friday.
State Rep. Bob Allen faces up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine if convicted of soliciting prostitution, a second-degree misdemeanor. The Republican is accused of peering over a stall at an undercover police officer and agreeing to pay $20 to perform oral sex on him.
His attrorney argued that Allen thought he was being robbed and that he went along with the police officer until he could flee.
Even if he was soliciting sex, Greg Eisenmenger told the jury, Allen was not guilty because it was the officer who first mentioned money in the July exchange.
Allen co-sponsored a bill months before his arrest that would have increased public sex charges from a misdemeanor to a felony. The proposed bill addressed "unnatural and lascivious acts or exposure or exhibition of sexual organs" within 1,000 feet of a park, school or child care facility.
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McCovey Cove Returns
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Member # 6507
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posted November 09, 2007 01:57 PM
Paper Trail must need to get laid or something.
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That's liking trying to f*ck while doing your taxes and singing karaoke. There are some things that you just shouldn't do at the same time.--markminn
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Produce man
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posted November 09, 2007 02:48 PM
Let's find him a good man.
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"DON'T TAZE ME, BRO!"
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Kace
Open Line Veteran
Member # 7837
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posted November 09, 2007 03:21 PM
Leave me out of this.
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55 Days To Season 5!
Our Main Event! (11/12/2007)
NCAA Basketball - Charlotte
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writer2
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Member # 5966
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posted November 09, 2007 03:57 PM
It's in the hands of the jury. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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Panic early and beat the rush.
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Paper Trail
Open Line Veteran
Member # 3269
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posted November 09, 2007 04:27 PM
Rep. Bob Allen found guilty of soliciting prostitutionBy John Kennedy, Kevin P. Connolly and Laurin Sellers | Sentinel Staff Writer
VIERA - A jury today found state Rep. Bob Allen guilty of soliciting sex from an undercover police officer in July.
The jury deliberated 3 1/2 hours before finding him guilty of agreeing to pay $20 to perform a sex act on the officer. The charge is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in the county jail and a $500 fine.
Allen, R-Merritt Island, did not take the stand in his own defense. He vehemently denied the charges as he left the courthouse.
"I am innocent. I've done nothing wrong and my family, my God and my good constituents know that,'' said the Merritt Island Republican.
Allen's attorney, Greg Eisenmenger, told the panel earlier in the day that the state had failed to prove the seven-year legislator solicited anyone in a bathroom at Veterans Memorial Park in Titusville. The officer, he said, was the only one who mentioned sex and money.
A spokeswoman for Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio said today that Bob Allen's conviction on a sex-solicitation charge doesn't mean he will be disciplined by his peers.
"There is nothing in the Constitution or House rules that requires he be punished or ousted from the House," said Jill Chamberlin, a spokeswoman for Rubio said.
Rubio had already stripped Allen of his committee assignments after the arrest.
Allen was elected to the Florida House in 2000. He was chairman of the House Committee on Energy and a Florida co-chair for U.S. Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign. The arrest came a month after U.S. Sen. Larry Craig was arrested for soliciting sex in a men's airport bathroom in Minneapolis.
Allen actually co-sponsored a bill months before his arrest that would have increased public sex charges from a misdemeanor to a felony. The proposed bill addressed "unnatural and lascivious acts or exposure or exhibition of sexual organs" within 1,000 feet of a park, school or child care facility.
Officer Danny Kavanaugh testified Thursday morning that he and two other undercover officers thought Allen was staring at them and acting suspiciously when he came to the park July 11. They thought he was "hitting on" them and abandoned an uneventful burglary detail to conduct a sex sting.
After joining the officer in the handicap stall, Allen leaned against the door, said, "This is kind of a public place, isn't it?" and suggested they go someplace quieter in the legislator's car, Kavanaugh testified.
But Eisenmenger, who questioned the officer's training and recollection of events, countered that Kavanaugh was so intent on making an arrest that he wasn't "about to wait to see if [Allen] was going to do something illegal." Kavanaugh was the one who solicited Allen by suggesting $20 for a sex act, the attorney said.
"No, Mr. Allen approached me by coming into my bathroom stall," the officer responded.
Laurin Sellers can be reached at lsellers@orlandosentinel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Illinois Boy
Senior Member
Member # 1458
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posted November 09, 2007 05:23 PM
Guess he'll appeal. And his wife will stand by him. His bathroom trolling days are over.
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s'news
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Member # 2664
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posted November 09, 2007 07:06 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Paper Trail:
Allen, R-Merritt Island, did not take the stand in his own defense. [/i]
Memo to SNL: Here's a skit that can't miss. He testifies. Toes tap. Wide stance is displayed. It's can't-miss comedy gold.
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Roy Hobbs
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posted November 10, 2007 05:48 AM
Thanks for the blow by blow description of the oral arguments.
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Zero
Senior Member
Member # 597
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posted November 10, 2007 08:27 AM
Unless I missed it, I haven't seen anything about the racial makeup of the jury. I found it appalling that Allen's defense was that he found the black man, not so sexy that he wanted to suck his joint, but instead found his very appearance imposing and frightening.
So the good Republican double talker managed to get negrophobia and homophobia into his defense.
Just another day for a gay self-hating Republican in denial. Why are so many of these recent cases centered around married conservative Republicans who lead secret double lives with furtive trips to men's rooms for sex?
A better question would be; When will hoards of conservative Republican voters wake up and discover that the family values party is a scam and they have used fear of gay sex to manipulate voters?
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"Cynicism is an unpleasant way of telling the truth" Lillian Hellman
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Bandit '07
Open Line Veteran
Member # 3260
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posted November 10, 2007 08:34 AM
Fun with headlines ...
quote:
Jury deliberating in case of Florida lawmaker accused of soliciting sex in park men's room
Really? The entire jury solicited sex in a bathroom while deliberating?
quote:
Trial Underway in Gay Sex Bathroom Trial of Florida Republican
The trial is happening in a Gay Sex Bathroom? Cool!
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SpxGrunt
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Member # 9501
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posted November 10, 2007 09:17 AM
Hope it's a hung jury! Hey!
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Angel's Hell
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Member # 1694
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posted November 10, 2007 12:01 PM
Go to Craigslist.com men seeking men and look at the ones with pics. They advertise their equipment to get dates! Ha Ha Ha!
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The place where the sun rises....
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McCovey Cove Returns
Open Line Veteran
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posted November 10, 2007 05:09 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Produce man:
Let's find him a good man.
Should be easy since Paper Trail loves liberals. ![[Shifty]](graemlins/eusa_shifty.gif) ![[Whistle]](graemlins/eusa_whistle.gif)
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That's liking trying to f*ck while doing your taxes and singing karaoke. There are some things that you just shouldn't do at the same time.--markminn
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s'news
Open Line Veteran
Member # 2664
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posted November 10, 2007 07:32 PM
quote:
Originally posted by s'news:
quote:
Originally posted by Paper Trail:
Allen, R-Merritt Island, did not take the stand in his own defense. [/i]
Memo to SNL: Here's a skit that can't miss. He testifies. Toes tap. Wide stance is displayed. It's can't-miss comedy gold.
Memo to SNL: Please disregard previous memo. I forgot about the writers' strike.
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