Fight for Gasparilla rape investigation records to continue, judge rules

TAMPA - The cityfailed Friday to persuade a judge to end outright a woman's quest to obtain copies of the police investigation into her alleged rape.

The woman, a 21-year-old University of South Florida student, said she was raped in January after the Gasparilla parade. She sued the city in March, seeking access to her case records on the grounds that police don't believe her and have stopped investigating her case.

City attorneys sought a summary judgement halt the woman's records request without a trial.

Circuit Judge James Barton denied the summary judgement and ordered both parties to mediation. He did not rule, however, on whether the Police Department has an active investigation.

"Hopefully, if there is an active investigation going on, (the mediation) can result in the truth being uncovered," Barton said.

The St. Petersburg Times typically does not name victims of sexual assault. However, the woman allowed television crews at the courthouse today to show her face and said reporters could use her first name, Becky.

She reported being grabbed off S Howard Avenue by a stranger and raped behind a building in daylight as she left the Gasparilla parade. But she ended up sitting in jail for two days after police learned there was a warrant for her arrest for failing to pay restitution for a juvenile crime.

The jailing halted the rape investigation and set off a firestorm of criticism about police treatment of an apparent crime victim. Mayor Pam Iorio and police officials publicly apologized.

Becky and her lawyer, Vic Moore III, viewed Friday's ruling as an early victory.

"I feel like people are finally starting to listen to me and pay attention," Becky said. Police investigators "didn't listen to me. They just threw me in jail."

-- Colleen Jenkins, Times staff writer