Exclusive: Day 1: Jane Doe et.al. v. Montgomery County Board of Education - Plaintiff's First Witness MCPD Detective Amber R.

Warning:  This is coverage of a trial involving rape and sexual abuse.

Jane Doe et. al. v. Montgomery County Board of Education et. al.  Montgomery County Circuit Court #482727V

This November 2023, civil trial in Montgomery County, Maryland was not covered by the media.

The public only learned about this trial when the November 17, 2023, jury verdict and award was reported by FOX5.  

The Parents' Coalition is providing the public with rough notes from the civil trial Jane Doe et. al. v. Montgomery County Board of Education in Montgomery County Circuit Court.  

The trial was before Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Kevin Hessler. 

This is not a transcript.  Please consult the Montgomery County Circuit Court for a copy of the transcript of what transpired at trial.  

Additional postings of notes from this trial can be found at this link. 

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The following are notes from the Plaintiff's first witness, Montgomery County Police Detective Amber R.

Plaintiff's Direct Examination of Detective:

Detective with Special Victims/Child Abuse unit.  Received a phone call at 5 PM on February 9, 2018, from a Gaithersburg Police Officer who had taken a report from the victim's mother. She set up an appointment to meet with the victim and his mother on Friday, February 12th. 

During the February 12th interview, the detective was speaking to the mother in an office and the victim was in the waiting area.  All of the sudden, other people from the wrestling team that were involved in this incident began showing up at her office.  

Q: How did the other wrestlers know to show up at the Detective's office while she was interviewing the victim?  

The Gaithersburg High School Principal, Dr. Christine Handy had told them that the Special Victim's unit had taken over and that she was the detective.  

Detective said she would absolutely never invite people that were alleged suspects to be in the same hallway with the alleged victim.  The Detective left the office where she was meeting with the mother and went and searched for the victim.  She found him hiding behind a door.  The presence of the other wrestlers and their parents were causing him fear.  The Detective said she apologized to the victim.

Later the Detective interviewed W1 because he was already there with his parents.  W1 wrote an apology letter to the victim while he was in the police station.  W1 wrote the letter on his own.  

Detective wasn't expecting W1 (Wrestler #1) on February 12th.  Detective needed to interview W1 again on February 14th.  

The Gaithersburg High School Assistant Principal had conducted a good bit of an investigation that Detective said she would typically have done.  Statements had already been taken by Gaithersburg High School staff prior to police involvement.

Detective said if police are behind in the investigation, they might be missing what happens on social media.  

Attempted to interview W2. Attempts to contact W2 failed. Then an email was received that W2 had obtained an attorney and declined to be interviewed.  

Detective was investigating 3 incidents:

• locker room where wrestlers dropped shorts to expose bare buttocks
• run through school where victim was shoved into the locker
• dog pile in wrestling room where victim was digitally penetrated

Detective interviewed W3 who recorded the incident and he had been suspended on February 12th.  W3 admitted to making the video.  

Detective interviewed Coach Moore.  His recollection of what happened in the wrestling room was that - all the wrestlers run in, someone yelling "stop, stop, no not again."  The kid (victim) never talks, then he (Coach Moore) looked up, then went back to wrestling with one of the students.  Wrestlers were jumping on each other.  Victim says "stop, stop," Coach Britton came in.  

Cross-Examination from Defendants:

None