Ore. appeals court reverses sex abuse conviction
National News
The Oregon Court of Appeals has overturned the conviction of a man found guilty of sodomy and sex abuse after it ruled a lower court erroneously allowed a previous victim of his to testify.
Prosecutors said the previous conviction was necessary to show Javier Roquez knew what he was doing was a crime. Roquez's defense team said the conviction, from 2006, should have been inadmissible because it wasn't related to the new rape case.
Roquez was accused of raping a woman with whom he was having an affair in May 2010 in the Oregon city of Irrigon. According to the original police report, Roquez and the woman were each married to other people, and their families were friends.
The woman, who lived in Kennewick, Wash., decided to call off the affair, but said Roquez threatened to tell their spouses unless she would have sex with him a last time. During intercourse, the woman said she tried to leave but Roquez refused to let her go, despite her pleas, and said the sex turned violent.
A doctor later examined her and found evidence of sexual assault. Roquez was charged with one count of first-degree rape, one count of first-degree sodomy and two counts of second-degree sexual abuse.
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Texas Adopts Statewide Texting-While-Driving Ban
Effective September 1, 2017, Texas will become the 47th state to pass a statewide ban on texting while driving. Governor Abbott’s signing of House Bill 62 is an effort to unify Texas under a uniform ban and remedy the “patchwork quilt of regulations that dictate driving practices in Texas.”
The bill specifically prohibits drivers from reading, writing, or sending an electronic message on a device unless the vehicle is stopped. That includes texting and emailing. It does not, however, prohibit dialing a number to call someone, talking on the phone using a hands-free device, or using the phone’s GPS system.
Violations would be punishable by a fine ranging from $25 to $99, to be set by each municipality. Although penalties could rise to as much as $200 for repeat offenders.
Studies have found that a driver’s reaction time is half as much when a driver is distracted by sending or reading a text message. According to state officials, in 2015 more than 105,000 traffic accidents in Texas involved distracted driving, leading to at least 476 fatalities.