TECUMSEH – A Johnson County district judge is being asked to decide the validity of an arrest that a defense attorney describes as based solely on an allegation of sexual assault from a person unfamiliar to deputies.
Sheriff Deputy Lynn Lyon testified that he arrested 32-year-old Luke Anderson of Syracuse within three hours of meeting the alleged victim at the sheriff’s office in Tecumseh.
Defense Attorney Korey Reiman questioned the sheriff’s office investigation to establish probable cause for the arrest.
Reiman: “Someone walking into a police station and making an allegation is not probable cause.”
The deputy said he conferred with the sheriff after interviewing the woman, then went to the Tecumseh State Correctional Institute, where Anderson worked, and arrested him at the keyhouse.
Prosecutor Richard Smith said a victim’s testimony does not need to be corroborated at trial where there is a standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, so it should not be required to make an arrest based only on probable cause.
He offered Judge Ricky Schreiner a case indicating that there is probable cause to arrest a person when a woman has only has a vague description of her attacker. In this case, he said, the alleged victim expressed no doubt about the identity of the suspect.
The alleged victim provided investigators with screen shots purported to show communications with Anderson, but the defense says that happened well after the arrest.
