'I Am the Prize' Ex-DA: Civil Rights Law Doesn't Protect Crime Victim from DA's 'Flirtatious' Texts
Seeking to bring a swift conclusion to a civil rights lawsuit filed by a Wisconsin domestic abuse victim to whom former Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz admittedly sent flirtatious text messages as he was prosecuting her ex-boyfriend, a lawyer for the ex-DA filed a motion to dismiss in federal court last week.
In addition to arguing that Kratz is immune from being sued over his performance as a prosecutor, the Thursday filing contends that Stephanie Van Groll, 26, has failed to establish that “any and all flirtatious text messages … from any individual involved in the legal process” constitute a violation of a crime victim’s constitutional rights, reports the Appleton Post Crescent.
Van Groll “has no constitutionally protected liberty interest in being free from unwanted attention from the opposite sex where said attention is not violent, harassing, or abusive,” writes attorney Robert Bellin in his pleading.
After initially resisting pressure to step down, Kratz resigned last year once news about his texts to Van Groll and other women was published.
Hat tip: Above the Law.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Former Sexting DA Claims Immunity from Civil Suit by Domestic Abuse Victim”
ABAJournal.com: “No Criminal Charges for Ex-‘I Am the Prize’ DA Accused in Sext Case”
