H -°, L 7° | Tomorrow: 
H 17°, L 4°DNA tests have cleared several individuals of involvement in the alleged rape of a former University of Wisconsin student at the Sigma Chi Fraternity in the fall of 2008, according to documents filed recently in the Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
The plaintiff, a Milwaukee woman identified as “Jane Doe,” filed a civil suit against the fraternity’s University of Wisconsin chapter, its national headquarters and insurers last July. The suit seeks punitive and compensatory damages for physical and emotional injuries sustained after she was allegedly drugged and raped multiple times at the Sigma Chi house.
According to a data sheet filed in December by plaintiff attorney Robert Elliott, DNA tests conducted by the Madison Police Department exonerated “some individuals from Sigma Chi, one or more of the young men believed to have been in the Sigma Chi suite when the Plaintiff woke up, as well as the young man with whom the Plaintiff went to the Sigma Chi house after the football game.”
Additionally, an amended complaint filed in December by Elliott reveals the plaintiff dropped allegations the fraternity’s owners violated Wisconsin’s safe place statute, which requires owners of public buildings to keep the space structurally and physically safe.
A Motion to Dismiss filed in October by the defendants objected to the safe place violation, stating the complaint does not prove the house must abide by the statute and the woman’s injuries were allegedly caused by illegal activities — not the house itself.
The amended complaint also includes expanded information on why the fraternity’s insurer and national headquarters should be held liable for the woman’s injuries, stating both were responsible for holding the house to the fraternity’s constitution, UW rules and state and federal laws.
A response to the amended complaint filed Jan. 6 by the defendants denies all of the plaintiff’s allegations.
The defendants are still pursuing the Motion to Dismiss, which originally was set to come before a judge Dec. 23. However, according to Marie Stanton, a Madison attorney representing the defendants, the hearing has been delayed until more information has been collected.
A scheduling order filed in December names Nov. 1 as the deadline for the completion of information collection, excluding out of court testimonies.
The order also requires that all witnesses, including medical and other experts, be determined at staggered dates leading up to Sept. 1. A list of damages is also due at that time.
A final pretrial conference will be held April 1, 2011, when a trial date, if required, will be scheduled. The defendants and plaintiff have demanded trial by a 12-person jury.
MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain confirmed MPD’s investigation into the alleged rape, which was reported to the department shortly after Oct. 4, 2008, remains ongoing.
The former student and Elliott have previously stated they are not commenting on the suit.
Sigma Chi representatives did not return calls as of press time.
Original complaint: Uw lawsuit.pdf
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The original complaint says the incident occurred in Georgia. May be a mistake.
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Why are Jane and Elliot trying to sue Sigma Chi house owners/investors and also Sigma Chi headquarters? I thought this women wanted justice on those that allegedly raped her and not what now looks to be a settlement case from those with the deepest pockets. According to the original interview Jane Doe was very aware of which Sigma Chi’s she was with earlier on in the day - why would she not ask for them to help her piece back together her day?
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Everyone in the greek system knows this girl and all stand by the Sigma Chi men. I think its obvious what really happened. just sayin’
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Statements like this are why the rest of campus looks down on the greek system.
We may not know who raped that girl, but thanks to the rape kit she took we DO know that she WAS raped.
I also think what’s happening is obvious.
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or just had sex with several dudes over the course of a day.
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Ha. You’re dumb. Sigma Chi (which is not written as SX) has not been shut down, nor will it likely be, nor will Sig Ep. Point of this article is that some people who were suspects have been exonerated, but we still don’t know what happened, she still could have very well been raped by somebody in the fraternity.
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I am not at all surprised by this outcome. It’s becoming obvious this “Jane Doe” woke up the next morning, realized she made some mistakes that she could blame on a guy, and then realized she was lucky enough for this to occur at one of the richest/largest international fraternities and decided she wanted to try and get a nice pay-day from it. I personally want to see the entire Badger Herald board face punishment/consequences for blowing the whistle on this way too early because they have some unnecessary deep seated hatred for the Greek Community, and I can’t wait for all this to blow up in her and whoever wrote all the seething editorials and news stories faces when the Judge dismisses the Case and the Police drop charges. It will be great, free drinks on me.
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Great Job, Badger Herald. It was so great how you first reported this story on the front page with a huge headline on shoutout day last year, because it was obviously all true and all. And what a surprise, the story about how ALL the suspects were exonerated is on the bottom half of the front page lacking the gigantic dramatic headline that was ran last year. This paper and its board is so one-sided its ridiculous. I was shocked to even see it on the front page.
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*ALL the suspects that volunteered for a DNA test to exonerate themselves. It would be hard to expect any guilty parties to voluntarily step forward for mouth swabs so that their DNA could be matched up with the DNA of the semen they so callously launched in Jane. (Alledgedly) You think any of those meatheads would be dumb enough to voluntarily incriminate themselves? Actually…..hmmm…okay maybe they could be that dumb but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now.
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Why is this same guy always posting about SigEp on every greek article ever written in the BH? It has nothing to do with this article at all.