FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 24, 2008                           

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The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Friday, June 20, 2008, upheld the 2006 conviction of two counts of deprivation of the rights of two victims who had been sexually abused by DILLON under color of law, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.

On May 4, 2006, following a lengthy trial, a federal jury found DILLON guilty of two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law against two separate sexual abuse victims in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242. In finding the defendant guilty, the jury also made special findings that his offenses involved aggravated sexual abuse, which, under federal law, includes knowingly causing a person to engage in a sexual act through the use of force.

DILLON was convicted of having violated the civil rights of both victims while he served as a Deputy City Attorney for the City of New Orleans in 2003 and 2004. Evidence and testimony at trial established that DILLON lured both victims to his private law office in New Orleans after meeting them at Municipal Court by asserting that their presence was necessary to complete court business. Once inside his office, he then forcibly raped each victim.

In affirming DILLON'S conviction for depriving the two rape victims to their right to bodily integrity, the U. S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected DILLON'S argument that the Government failed to present sufficient evidence to carry its burden of showing that the sexual assault attributed to him occurred under color of law, holding:

"While Dillon did not use equipment obtained through his official position to commit the sexual assaults . . . his attacks were not disconnected from his position of authority. . .

During trial, the government presented evidence that both . . . [rape victims] . . . initially met Dillon through position as an [Assistant City Attorney]. They came to his office because they believed that his position as an ACA enabled him to help them with their legal problems: [one victim] sought his fixing her tickets and help in having her son released from jail and [another victim] thought that he was going to give her a drug test so she could have her pending marijuana charge dismissed . . . the testimony of [both victims] indicates that they thought that Dillon's position as an ACA put him in a position to help them."

The Court found that the substance of DILLON'S statements clearly invoked his actual or perceived power as a city prosecutor as it was only in that capacity that he and the victims were then relating to each other.

The Fifth Circuit additionally rejected DILLON'S argument that the testimony of two additional victims regarding uncharged sexual assaults was improperly admitted as too prejudicial, finding that:

"The district court took great care in weighing the evidence of . . . these prior sexual assaults. It admitted those that it determined to be relevant, and it excluded those that it determined to be unfairly prejudicial."

Following his conviction, on Friday, September 22, 2006, U. S. District Judge Lance Africk sentenced DILLON to life imprisonment for his crimes against these victims.

U. S. Attorney Jim Letten praised the courage of the victims identified in the indictment as well as those who testified or agreed to testify at trial for their courage in coming forward and providing critical testimony, thus making this important conviction possible. "If not for them," Letten said, "a dangerous sexual predator would be free today."

The matter was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Orleans Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorneys Michael McMahon and Mark Miller, and Julie Cullen, a Louisiana Deputy Attorney General who had been appointed as Special Assistant U. S. Attorney to work jointly on the case.