Bowers seeking third trial on child sex charges

After being convicted in March on child sex charges in Jackson County District Court, a Soldier resident is asking for a third trial on the charges, with his attorney stat­ing that due to a witness for the prosecution allegedly misrepre­senting herself, he did not receive a fair trial.

Anthony Bowers was found guilty by a jury in March on charges of rape, aggravated inde­cent liberties with a child and ag­gravated criminal sodomy that re­portedly stemmed from incidents that allegedly occurred in late 2012. Bowers’ March trial was the sec­ond time he faced a jury on the charges, the original trial conclud­ing in 2014 with a hung jury.

Bowers’ attorney, Sarah G. Swain of Lawrence, has filed a motion seeking a new trial, stating that the court erred in allowing a prosecution witness, forensic inter­viewer Jill Shehi Chapman, “to testify as a layperson on subjects far outside her qualifications, knowledge and education.”

Swain also alleged that Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller “committed prosecutorial miscon­duct by misleading the court and defense counsel about the nature” of Chapman’s testimony. As a re­sult, Swain said, Bowers was de­nied his right to a fair trial.

A hearing on the motion for a new trial for Bowers has been scheduled for Friday, July 15 in Jackson County District Court, al­though Miller has filed for an ex­tension of the date, citing a need for more time to properly respond to Swain’s motion. If Swain’s motion is denied, however, the court will proceed to sentencing on Bowers’ March convictions.

According to court documents, Bowers was found guilty by a jury on the three charges on March 31 and was given a 14-day window to file a motion for a new trial. How­ever, Swain stated, she and Bowers were not able to meet that deadline because they were still waiting on a transcript of testimony given by Chapman during the trial.

After Swain was granted a 60-day extension for filing the motion for a new trial, she filed the motion for a new trial, citing several “re­versible errors” committed by the court in allowing Chapman’s testi­mony to stand. The motion was predicated upon the court allowing Chapman to testify as a layperson on matters “far outside her qualifi­cations, knowledge and education.”

“Opinions are only allowed to be offered by experts. This woman is not testifying as an expert here. And I would object to questions calling for her opinion based on that,” Swain said during the trial.

However, Swain’s objection was overruled and Chapman’s testi­mony was allowed to stand. Fur­thermore, Swain contended that the state was offering Chapman as a “fact witness” and that Chapman “was not confused in the least about what State’s counsel was really asking her to do,” addition­ally citing a case where a similar tactic occurred and an objection was granted.

In addition, Swain said that the court “committed reversible error” by allowing Chapman “to testify as to the supposed common charac­teristics of child sex offenders” as a lay witness. Swain also said Miller committed “prosecutorial miscon­duct by misleading the court and defense counsel about the nature of Ms. Chapman’s testimony, deliber­ately eliciting inadmissible evi­dence, and encouraging improper inference stacking.”

Swain also targeted the court for permitting “the testimonial hear­say” of Bowers’ alleged victim to come in through Chapman and Jackson County Deputy Travis Spiker when the alleged victim “later proved unavailable for cross-examination.” She argued that Bowers was entitled to face the al­leged victim in the trial, rather than hear secondhand testimony, due to state and national constitutional law.