Nodaway County Prosecutor Attorney Robert Rice, the same man who closed the rape case involving Daisy Coleman, announced Wednesday that he will appoint a special prosecutor to review the investigation in Maryville Missouri, The Huffington Post reported.
Rice had dropped the charge against two Maryville High School students in March 2012, two months after the alleged sexual assault against Coleman took place, when he insisted that the girl and her mother, Melinda, were not cooperative in the investigation, a claim the family disputed.
"I have asked the court to appoint a special prosecuting attorney to conduct an independent review of the facts and determine whether to refile charges," Rice said on Wednesday.
The reopening of the case comes as the Kansas City Star published "Nightmare in Maryville," which discussed the trials and tribulations facing the Coleman family, beginning rape, the suspects' supposed family connections to the authorities, and the hostile backlash by their community against them. The Coleman family have since moved from Maryville.
Lt. Governor Peter Kinder released a statement on Tuesday, imploring the Missouri attorney to revisit the case, after repeated calls from his constituency to do so.
"I call on Attorney General [Chris] Koster and prosecutor Rice to join me in asking that the Circuit Court convene a grand jury to review all the evidence, hear all witnesses, and issue a decision as to whether charges should ensue," Kinder said.
Maryville City Manager Greg McClain called the case "an unfortunate incident that cast a shadow over all our community," in a statement.
Daisy Coleman had previously "told police the 17-year-old boy invited to a party where she became so intoxicated she couldn't stand and that had sex with her while a friend filmed the incident on an iPhone," The Daily Mail reported.
Coleman said she and her friend were drinking before going to his house where they "snuck in through his basement window. He gave me a big glass of a clear liquid. And That's all I remember," she said on CNN. After sex, the high school football player and his friends allegedly dumped her on her front porch where she passed out. She was wearing barely any clothing, causing her to develop frostbite on her hands and feet when. Her mother found her several hours later, according to news reports.
No reports yet as to how the new investigation will be conducted.
