EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
District Judge Clinton Peterson overturned the decision of Magistrate Michael Winner and reinstated the charge of rape against former Liberal City Manager Russell Varnado. He also added a charge of sexual battery.
According to the Decision of the Court filed May 8, Seward County Attorney Russell Hasenbank appealed Winner’s dismissal which was made at the April 23 preliminary hearing.
After reviewing the transcript of the preliminary hearing, Judge Peterson shared testimony from the alleged victim identified as “RB” that she was alone with Varnado in his home and she told Varnado to stop after she claimed he pulled her pants down to her ankles.
She later testified, “I kept telling him, ‘No.’ And then um — he grabbed my throat and that’s when I just — I stopped fighting him because I was scared.”
According to the filing, Magistrate Winner stated in his dismissal of the rape allegation that the witness had inconsistencies in her testimony. Those inconsistencies could be a problem for a jury.
But Peterson believed there was sufficient evidence to meet the probable cause threshold, and in addition to reinstating the rape allegation, Peterson also stated there was enough evidence to add the charge of sexual battery in violation of K.S.A. 21-5505(b)(1).
“The ruling of the magistrate is reversed,” Peterson stated in the Decision of the Court. He also added that the “defendant is bound over for arraignment and trial on the charges of rape and aggravated sexual battery.”
