Lawyer appeals ruling against Oklahoma City ex-coach charged with raping student

Tyrone Nash is accused of assaulting female, 16, who attended same school where he coached; defense attorney says age of consent statutes in case are unconstitutional
By Tim Willert Published: January 8, 2013

The attorney for a former basketball coach accused of rape is asking the state Court of Criminal Appeals to stop the case from proceeding to trial.

David Slane filed paperwork Monday to appeal a district court ruling that stated Tyrone Nash did not have a constitutional right to engage in consensual sex with a female student who attended the high school where he worked.

Slane is asking the appellate court to prevent a trial “because the statutes (Nash) is being prosecuted with are unconstitutional.”

“Listen, we're not crazy. We're not arguing that teachers ought to be having sex with their students,” Slane said. “This law is written very poorly and needs to be reviewed by the highest court.”

Nash, 33, of Oklahoma City, is charged with five counts of second-degree rape and five counts of forcible oral sodomy. The former Western Heights High School coach was arrested Sept. 9, 2011, after the student, then 16, told police she had been having sex with a teacher.

Nash is set to face trial May 6 in the Oklahoma County courtroom of District Judge Jerry D. Bass, who last month overruled Slane's motion to strike down the state's age of consent law and dismiss the case.

“This court cannot conclude the defendant has a constitutionally protected and fundamental right to engage in a sexual relationship with a consenting minor who is a student at the same school where he is employed as a teacher,” Bass wrote in his opinion.

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by Tim Willert
Education Reporter
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