Judge will rule on sex assault testimony

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By the Lincoln Journal Star

Lancaster County District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront is considering whether to allow an alleged sex assault victim to testify she had an unusual hangover after she awoke at the residence of her accused attacker.

At a hearing Wednesday morning, the judge said he was concerned that such testimony could imply to jurors that the woman had been drugged. Cheuvront said there was no physical evidence to support that implication.

Pamir Safi is scheduled to go to trial July 7 on allegations he sexually assaulted the then-21-year-old University of Nebraska-Lincoln student in October 2004.

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Pamir J. Safi

Pamir J. Safi

Safi claimed the sex was consensual. The state argued the woman was too intoxicated to give consent, and that Safi knew this.

The case went to trial last year, but ended in a hung jury. The Lancaster County Attorney’s Office decided earlier this year to try Safi again on the charge.

Cheuvront, in a pre-trial ruling before the first trial, denied prosecutors’ request that the woman be allowed to testify about what she described to Lincoln police as an unusual hangover following the incident.

Safi and the woman met at at downtown Lincoln bar the night of Oct. 30, 2004. After sharing several drinks, they drove in Safi’s vehicle to his residence and spent the night there.