Terry Elrod Mitchell
According to the suit, which seeks $25 million in damages, Terry Elrod Mitchell, a witness in a 1981 criminal case being prosecuted by Roberts, was a vulnerable teenager with a history of sexual abuse when they met. Mitchell claims that Roberts used his access to her mental health records to deceive her, after which he drove her to a hotel, forced her into a room and then raped her.
The complaint alleges that Roberts “intimidated, coerced and manipulated Mitchell to have sexual intercourse nearly every day for several weeks.” Roberts is accused of using the threat of a mistrial in the criminal case as leverage to continue their relationship.
That prosecution launched an illustrious legal career for Roberts, known as Ricky, who was then 27 and unmarried. The defendant in the criminal case, a self-avowed white supremacist named Joseph Paul Franklin, had previously shot and paralyzed Hustler founder Larry Flynt. Mitchell was in a Salt Lake City park when Franklin shot two of her friends, at such close range that she was injured by shrapnel.
Judges Comments
The Judge retired early with all benifits - it was reported that he would be making more retired than working - You are paying in your taxes for a RAPIEST yearly
“Roberts acknowledges that 35 years ago, as a junior prosecutor, he had an intimate relationship with Ms. Mitchell, who had earlier been a witness in the [Joseph Paul] Franklin trial. But contrary to the allegations, this relationship was entirely consensual. Roberts acknowledges that the relationship was indeed a bad lapse in judgment. However, the relationship did not occur until after the trial and had no bearing on that trial.”
A real "Old Boys Network" guy.
As chief judge, Roberts — who was appointed to the court in 1998 by President Bill Clinton — is in
charge of many sensitive cases, including a civil suit against the federal government brought by Abu
Zubaydah, the senior Al Qaeda operative who claims the United States tortured him during
interrogations at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In the suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, the woman, Terry Mitchell, seeks
a jury trial on her claims that Roberts raped her repeatedly in 1981 when she was a witness in the
trial of Joseph Paul Franklin, the white supremacist serial killer who shot Hustler magazine
publisher Larry Flynt.