News Story by Emily Kurtz

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous News Stories | Send mail to The Voice Journalism student acquitted of criminal trespassing Iyesha Steiningerwas acquitted in court. -Mike Richeson, photo A Multnomah student, Iyesha Lynch Steininger, was recently acquitted of trespassing charges at the LoveJoy Surgicenter. In February, Steininger was working on an article about abortion for The Voice. Her article featured pro-life activist Paul DeParrie and his protest. "After talking to the protesters [at the LoveJoy Clinic], I thought it would be a good idea, as a journalist, to go inside the clinic to see if I could gather some information to obtain a more objective view of the situation," Steininger said. Wanting to find information without bothering those inside, she began to look at pamphlets on a table. While she was in the clinic, a man who apparently works at the clinic approached her a few times to ask her questions. Eventually, he and another woman then asked her to leave. Steininger told them she wasn't with the protesters and requested to continue looking at the material. She had never been to an abortion clinic before and said she didn't know that abortion clinics are private property. "I didn't leave the premises because I felt I had done nothing wrong and that the issue was over," she said. After Steininger continued to interview the protesters, the police came and questioned Steininger about what had happened. "I told him the truth in summary," Steininger said. After a few moments, "they approached me and told me their conclusion. I was being cited for criminal trespassing." Dr. Wayne Strickland, Multnomah's academic dean, found Steininger a lawyer to represent her in court. After many changes to her court dates and times, Steininger went to court two times. Her first court visit was to plead either innocent or guilty. After pleading innocent, she received another court date. "I was scared to death because I thought I was going to have to testify," she said. At her second court visit, just before Steininger thought she was going to have to testify, her lawyer told the judge that the witnesses against her "did not establish ownership for the property or their authority [to tell her to leave]," she said. This meant that the prosecution didn't prove that the people who told her to leave had the right to do so. Steininger was acquitted of the charges against her. She said, "I don't really feel as though I was proven innocent" but is glad that she was not found guilty. Mr. DeParrie, the abortion protester featured in Steininger's article, was in court when Steininger was acquitted. "It was a great victory," he said. Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous News Stories | Top Of Page Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website © 2003 The Voice. No part of this publication may be reproduced in written or electronic form without prior written consent from the journalism adviser of Multnomah Bible College. All rights reserved.