Iowa AG asks Iowa SC to overturn decision in favor of accused student

Article here. Excerpt:

'In a brief filed this week with the Iowa Supreme Court, the state Attorney General’s Office has argued that District Court Judge Steven Oeth used the wrong evidentiary standard in his August decision to overturn a sexual misconduct violation against former Ames High School and Iowa State University basketball player Bubu Palo.

The brief, which requests an oral argument in front of the court, was filed on behalf of the Iowa Board of Regents, which in December 2013 upheld a decision by ISU President Steven Leath finding Palo in violation of the university’s sexual misconduct policy stemming from rape accusations against him and his friend, Spencer Cruise, the previous year.
...
Citing numerous examples of case law, the Attorney General’s Office is arguing that both Priester and Oeth erred in their interpretations of the law — Priester by neglecting to apply ISU’s student conduct code in his findings and Oeth by reassessing evidence instead of determining whether Leath’s and the Board of Regents’ findings were supported by the evidence already established.

The brief points out that Priester referenced the Iowa Code’s definition of sexual abuse in his proposed findings, when it did not apply to the university’s sexual misconduct policy. State law requires guilt beyond a reasonable doubt — part of the reason why the Story County Attorney’s Office decided to drop the criminal cases against Palo and Cruise — while university misconduct proceedings are based on a lesser preponderance of evidence standard.

To back up the Board of Regents’ decision, the brief lists its findings in support of Palo’s alleged victim that contradict findings made by Priester and Oeth, such as that Palo’s cooperation with police, his previous sexual encounters with the alleged victim and vague texts he sent her before the incident had no bearing on whether the sex was consensual.

“It is unreasonable to conclude that someone who had just been sexually assaulted and severely traumatized would immediately then consent to have a consensual sexual relationship with another person,” the brief argues, quoting from the board’s decision.'