For greater than a yr, state Rep. Leslie Herod has confronted public allegations of sexual assault made by one other lady who’s lively in Colorado Democratic politics, together with some leveled in social media posts when Herod was working for Denver mayor.
Now Herod says she feels vindicated after a Denver County Court docket choose final month forged doubt on the accuser’s allegations, together with the alleged assault a number of years in the past, by discovering her testimony was not credible. The choose dominated towards the accuser throughout a listening to referred to as after she requested a safety order towards Herod, in response to a court docket transcript offered to JHB, denying accuser Sheena Kadi’s request for a everlasting order. As a substitute, the choose granted a safety order to the state lawmaker.
Two half-day hearings in February culminated in Choose Clarisse Gonzales declaring that the proof of threats or violence introduced towards Herod have been unsubstantiated. In her ruling from the bench on Feb. 12, Gonzales stated the accuser’s testimony was “unbelievable on one hundred pc of the info that have been asserted.”
“I’m grateful that there was a course of to have my voice be heard,” Herod instructed The Put up in an interview. “It simply by no means ought to have gotten up to now.”
Herod’s legal professional, Harvey Steinberg, offered a replica of the 12-page transcript, which is an excerpt from the proceedings that covers solely the choose’s detailed oral ruling.
Kadi is a spokesperson for the Colorado Treasurer’s Workplace and is the vice chair of public relations and advertising for the Colorado Democratic Occasion. She beforehand frequented the Colorado State Capitol as deputy director of One Colorado, an advocacy group for LGBTQ+ individuals.
Reached Sunday, Kadi didn’t reply to particular questions concerning the ruling. When supplied with a direct quote from the choose’s ruling, Kadi stated she hadn’t seen or learn the court docket transcript. She has beforehand declined to remark to The Put up concerning the allegations she posted on social media.
Whereas The Put up usually doesn’t determine alleged victims of sexual assault, it’s naming Kadi as a result of she has made the accusations towards Herod so publicly.
The safety order requires that Kadi make no contact with Herod or publish any social media posts to or concerning the lawmaker. It additionally requires that Kadi stay 100 yards away from Herod always, besides when Kadi is on the Capitol for work functions or at occasions authorized by the treasurer or by the celebration. In these work cases, Kadi should stay at the least 25 yards away from Herod, in response to the file.
As Kadi had aired her accusations, going again to early 2023, she didn’t title Herod in all her social media posts or give particulars on the conduct she was alleging. However the connection to Herod was typically clear.
And in a since-deleted assertion posted by Kadi in December on X, previously often called Twitter, she named Herod, alleging the lawmaker had sexually assaulted her and wouldn’t “personal up” to it. She additionally stated she’d been doxxed, threatened and harassed since coming ahead.
Herod stated she first heard concerning the allegations towards her in June 2022, and that Kadi harassed her by taking footage and movies of her at occasions and calling her a sexual abuser. Herod stated her colleagues within the legislature have tried to make use of the allegations towards her by citing them on the Capitol.
Herod herself addressed the allegations publicly a number of instances in current weeks.
When lawmakers have been debating a invoice that may defend sexual assault victims from shaming in court docket, Herod zeroed in on a provision associated to the usage of a previous historical past of false studies towards a sufferer throughout a ground speech, referencing Kadi’s accusations towards her.
She stated it was necessary to permit sure data in court docket that may assist an individual defending themselves.
Herod once more requested pointed questions in a committee listening to earlier this month associated to office harassment investigations. She confirmed to The Put up that she discovered an investigation launched final yr towards her was based mostly on a criticism filed by Kadi. Herod stated the investigation was later dropped and he or she has not been in a position to acquire the data associated to it. She additionally needed to pay for authorized counsel out of pocket, she stated.
Herod stated false assault allegations are widespread towards Black individuals in elected positions, however she didn’t anticipate it to occur to her.
“It was extraordinarily painful to see,” she stated within the interview. “It was extraordinarily surprising to see these varieties of allegations introduced towards me. It’s dangerous as a result of, fairly frankly, I’ve at all times fought for individuals, for girls, and to imagine girls and people who’ve been sexually assaulted or harassed. And I might by no means even put myself in a scenario the place that may very well be a difficulty — and I didn’t.”
She additionally referred to as for an finish to false narratives that queer elected officers are abusers.
Kadi’s preliminary request within the Denver court docket for a restraining order towards Herod stemmed from an incident on Jan. 10, during which Kadi stated Herod “bodily intimidated me by getting into my private house in my workplace, in a means that made me scared for my bodily security.” She additionally stated she was assaulted in Herod’s residence on Dec. 18, 2019, and listed different dates of incidents that she stated included violence or threats. She alleged that Herod flirted together with her and made advances towards her.
Throughout her testimony in February, in response to the choose’s ruling, Kadi stated she went to Herod’s residence on the evening of the alleged assault and that Herod pushed herself onto Kadi.
Herod denied all the claims towards her and stated that the evening Kadi went to her residence was truly in June 2020, after Kadi had left One Colorado and was now not participating in legislative advocacy on the Capitol. She stated Kadi had been pursuing her.
And Herod stated she and Kadi “made out one time,” however she stated she indicated to Kadi that she wasn’t eager about the rest.
The court docket additionally reviewed textual content messages that the choose stated confirmed that Kadi was making an attempt to see Herod once more romantically after the alleged sexual assault. Two witnesses additionally testified that that they had heard Kadi check with the incident solely as a “making out session” or that she had “attached” with Herod in a means that she was blissful about, in response to the transcript.
“Ms. Kadi’s testimony on this case is discovered to be unbelievable by this Court docket, not solely as a result of the character of her testimony simply merely defies widespread sense in so many cases, but additionally as a result of the opposite reveals, instantly the dependable proof proves this to be merely not constant,” Gonzales stated within the transcript.
As for the opposite incidents Kadi had listed, the choose stated that, “even assuming what you stated is true … most of those are nothing greater than any individual maybe simply ignoring you … or possibly, at most, being a bit curt.”
Herod stated she is contemplating submitting a defamation lawsuit towards Kadi within the matter.
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