Kathy Shelton
| Kathy Shelton | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1962 (age 54–55) Springdale, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Residence | Springdale, Arkansas |
| Nationality | American |
Kathy Shelton (born 1962) is an American sexual assault survivor.
Shelton was raised by a single mother in Springdale, Arkansas, who was "very strict about her relationships with members of the opposite sex."
In 1975, at age 12, Shelton was raped by two men in Arkansas. One of the men accused of raping her was 41-year-old defendant Thomas Alfred Taylor whose court-appointed criminal defense lawyer was 27-year-old Hillary Clinton (then known as Hillary Rodham) in her first-time appearance as courtroom litigator (courtroom lawyer) who had, according to Clinton, previously requested removal from the case.
Clinton said that she was initially asked to do the job as a favor to prosecutor Mahlon Gibson who recommended her to the trial judge Maupin Cummings since the defendant wanted a female defense attorney.
"I had some really tough clients. I had one appear, a prosecutor called me years ago, said that he had a guy who was accused of rape...and the guy wanted a woman lawyer... Would I do it as a favor..."
Gibson stated in 2014 that Clinton had no choice but to defend the defendant after she was appointed by the judge in the case. At the time, she was working at the legal aid clinic at the University of Arkansas and represented the defendant for free. Clinton has said that she requested removal from the case.
Clinton stated in an affidavit she had received information that Shelton was emotionally unstable and had a tendency to seek out older men and engage in fantasizing.
"I have been informed that the complainant is emotionally unstable with a tendency to seek out older men and to engage in fantasizing. I have also been informed that she has in the past made false accusations about persons, claiming they had attacked her body. Also that she exhibits an unusual stubbornness and temper when she does not get her way."
Moreover, in this same affidavit, Clinton stated:
"I have also been told by an expert in child psychology that children in early adolescence tend to exaggerate or romanticize sexual experiences and that adolescents with disorganized families, such as the complainant, are even more prone to such behavior."
Based on court documents obtained by CNN and Clinton's account in her 2003 memoir "Living History," Clinton won a plea deal for Taylor, securing a significantly reduced charge and sentence, based on the prosecution's loss of critical items of evidence so that the semen and blood samples found in the defendant’s underwear could not be used as evidence at the trial for the patch of underwear tested had been discarded.
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