BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Thomas Keenan is going to court again.
For the third time in less than a year, the former Harrison police chief will face a rape trial on charges that he fondled and groped a female clerk in his office.
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Steven Martin cleared the way for another trial Friday when he refused Mr. Keenan's request to dismiss the case.
Mr. Keenan's previous trials both ended without verdicts when the jurors declared that their deliberations were hopelessly deadlocked.
A juror in the first trial said the panel voted 11-1 for conviction. Jurors in the second trial would not discuss their votes. Judge Martin issued his ruling without comment Friday and scheduled the new trial for Feb. 1.
"We're disappointed the judge chose to overrule our motion, but we understand his position," said Pete Rosenwald, one of Mr. Keenan's attorneys. "We're going to prepare for trial."
The former chief lost his job last year when he was charged with rape and gross sexual imposition.
Mr. Keenan has denied the charges, and defense attorneys have repeatedly argued that his accuser is a mentally unstable pawn of his political enemies.
They cited a series of graphic love letters from the alleged victim to Mr. Keenan as proof that she was obsessed with him.
Prosecutors, however, have said Mr. Keenan threatened the woman and forced her to write the letters.
Although the case now is on track for a third trial, it will have a new look because the attorneys have changed on both sides.
Assistant prosecutors Thomas Longano and Jim Butler replace Heather Russell and Julia Stautberg. At the defense table, Mr. Rosenwald will replace Firooz Namei. 'We're disappointed the judge chose to overrule our motion, but we understand his position. We're going to prepare for trial.' - Pete Rosenwald, a Keenan attorney
