DETROIT – There were four potentially game-changing decisions made Friday regarding some of the most salacious evidence in the case against former Detroit City Council president Charles Pugh.
A judge addressed attempts to block witnesses, the banning of certain words and an attack on Pugh's key defense: that the alleged victim welcomed the sexual attention.
The plaintiff said that as a student Pugh aggressively pursued him, offering him $160 to perform a sex act on video. His attorneys sought to block Pugh's and the Detroit Public Schools district's defense that the sexual advance was encouraged.
The judge denied the request, saying in this kind of case it's the plaintiff's burden to show the sexting was unwelcome.
Pugh's attorney's sought to block testimony from school board members Tawana Simpson and Lamarr Lemmons. Simpson will testify she witnessed Pugh on a date with a boy who admitted to being underage. She and Lemmons claim they warned district leaders about Pugh's behavior, saying he was mentoring program was a bad idea.
The judge denied the motion. Plaintiffs need the testimony to prove the district was warned and negligent.
Finally, the court ruled testimony from former Pugh interns Marcus Bright and Nathanial Hill will be allowed. Plaintiffs say Pugh has evaded questions about the conduct and want to prove this is a pattern of behavior.
Hill alleges in an affidavit that he was 14 when the city councilman began sexually pursuing him and played porn videos when the boy visited his home. Hill was a student at Frederick Douglass Academy at the time.
Pugh's team also is looking to ban words, specifically the word "pedophile," saying it's too inflammatory.
The plaintiff's team already agreed not to use it, but now witnesses will be warned that the word is verboten. However, they can still use the term "underage boys and boys."
When the allegations from the Frederick Douglass Academy student came to light, Pugh resigned from City Council in disgrace and left Detroit in the middle of the night.
The civil trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 3.
Pugh has not been charged criminally.