Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.LINCOLN — Whether Lauren Cook received preferential treatment is up for debate, but there's no question the Husker volleyball player scored a rare opportunity last week when authorities wiped a felony charge from her record.
A review of several thousand Lancaster County pretrial diversion cases since 2009 showed that Cook was the only one accepted into the program on the felony charge of leaving the scene of an injury accident.
During the nearly three-year period, however, the 20-year-old starting setter for the highly ranked Huskers also was the only defendant charged with the offense to apply for diversion.
The records check was completed by Diversion Services, the company that contracts with the county to administer the program. Lancaster County Attorney Joe Kelly released the findings to The World-Herald on Tuesday.
The prosecutor stressed, as he did last week, that Cook was accepted because her offense was eligible, she wasn't under the influence of alcohol or drugs and she called authorities before police had to search for her. Those elements rarely exist in leaving-the-scene cases, Kelly said.
"I tried to use my best judgment and tried to treat it in a fair manner," he said. "There's always going to be folks who disagree with decisions we make here."
The prosecutor ordered the records review after a formal records request was filed last week by Korey Reiman, a Lincoln criminal defense lawyer who wondered whether the daughter of head volleyball coach John Cook received special treatment. Acting separately, the newspaper also requested the records from Kelly.
Reiman said he represented a 65-year-old woman with a perfect driving record who was turned away from applying for pretrial diversion in 2008 after she left the scene of a property damage accident.
The woman was not under the influence but didn't report herself because she was unaware that she had lightly struck another car while backing up in a parking lot, Reiman said.
Reiman said a Diversion Services staff member told him that leaving the scene was considered a traffic offense and therefore was automatically ineligible for diversion. If other lawyers and applicants have been told the same thing, that could explain why there have been no written applications over the past three years, Reiman said.
"To say this case is treated the same as all the others is baloney," Reiman said.
While leaving the scene of an accident is traffic-related, it is a more serious offense than an infraction such as speeding or making an illegal turn. Leaving a property accident is a misdemeanor, and since 2006, leaving an injury accident has been a felony.
Cook got herself in trouble shortly before noon Oct. 30 when she struck a motorcycle that was stopped along the curb of a residential street in north Lincoln. The accident left the motorcyclist with a broken leg and his passenger with scrapes.
Cook left the scene in a Toyota 4Runner belonging to her parents. She called 911 eight minutes later, after the vehicle came to a stop with a shredded front tire. She gave her location and told the emergency operator that she had "freaked out" but wanted to make sure the motorcyclists were OK.
Police arrested her on suspicion of the felony offense and put her in the county jail. She was released later in the day on bail paid by her father.
Cook's being bailed out of jail on a Sunday afternoon also raised questions about equal treatment.
County judges and deputy prosecutors who pull weekend duty review probable cause affidavits on felony cases to see whether any of the detained individuals are eligible for release on bail. The seriousness of the offense and the flight risk of the individual are the top considerations for the judge, who makes the final decision, Kelly said.
A few such defendants gain their release through the process, said Corrections Administrator Michael Thurber.
"It's happened with individuals who are not publicly well-known," Kelly said.
Cook was also arrested on suspicion of driving under suspension, but Kelly declined to file a charge on that misdemeanor, a decision that has also raised questions.
The prosecutor said the courts don't like misdemeanors and felonies to be combined in the same filing because misdemeanors are dealt with in county court, while felonies must be bound over to district court, which requires more time.
Given Cook's driving record — six speeding tickets in four years — it is logical to question how she could have still qualified for diversion. But speeding tickets are traffic infractions, not misdemeanors, and don't count against diversion applicants.
Cook will remain on diversion until Nov. 7, 2012, during which time she must perform 60 hours of community service and pay a to-be-determined amount of restitution to the victims. If she lands in more legal trouble while in the program, the prosecutor will refile the felony charge, which carries a potential five-year prison sentence.
Lancaster County Public Defender Dennis Keefe is not among those who question Cook's acceptance into the diversion program. The program is designed to lessen the caseload on the courts, cut expenses and protect public safety. All the better if it gives a young woman a chance to avoid the stigma of being a convicted felon, Keefe said.
"I think the absolutely correct decision was made in that case, and I would hope that we expand the possibilities for diversion," he said.
Roughly 1,000 people are accepted into diversion each year in Lancaster County out of more than 2,000 who apply. Among them are people charged with felony crimes such as burglary, possession of a controlled substance and forgery.
After being told three years ago that leaving-the-scene cases were not eligible, Reiman said, he has advised other clients charged with the offense that there is no point in applying.
He'll change that advice from now on.
"I have no problem with Ms. Cook getting into diversion," he said. "Hopefully, she will benefit from participating in that program. I just hope my clients from here on out are getting the same consideration that Ms. Cook did."
Contact the writer:
402-473-9587, joe.duggan@owh.com
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