INDIANAPOLIS -- Prosecutors have asked a judge to throw out a plea agreement they had offered a man accused of rape after they say the victim accused the deputy prosecutor who offered the deal of mishandling the case.
According to Hancock County Prosecutor Brent Eaton, his Deputy Prosecutors submitted the plea deal last month. The deal dropped three rape charges against James Owens, 38, if he would agree to plead guilty to battery and criminal confinement.
Eaton said he initially agreed to the filing, but after speaking with the victim he has decided to withdraw his plea offer.
The Deputy Prosecutor accused of mishandling the case, Georgeanna Teipen, plans to resign her post at the end of the month. It is unclear if her resignation has anything to do with this case.
Police arrested Owens in January after his then girlfriend told detectives he raped her at her Greenfield house.
Prosecutors are not required to get victim’s approval for a plea deal, but in this case, Eaton said he felt like the victim’s concerns should have been factored in.
The motion to withdraw the plea was submitted on Monday. The judge not yet made a decision.
