After two days of hearing last week, the Beach Sex case is going to the St Ann Circuit Court.
The case was heard last week Thursday and Friday, January 18 and 19 in the St Ann Parish Court by senior parish judge Andrea Thomas.
An American man, Lincoln Kline of Louisiana is facing rape charges. The case arose out of incidents surrounding a night drinking and having fun on the beach at a hotel in Mammee Bay, St Ann.
The woman pressing the charges is also from the US. Both were vacationing at the hotel. She was with another woman and Mr Kline was vacationing with his wife.
Kline denied raping the woman and maintained that whatever transpired between himself and the complainant was consensual.
Kline first appeared in the St Ann Parish Court on Friday, May 20, 2016, where he was granted bail.
Police had statements that Kline and the woman had been hanging out since earlier in the week.
On the first court appearance, the complainant was accompanied by her female partner. She is claiming that she never consented to having consensual sex with Kline.
The complainant told police Kline forced himself on her and kissed her and had sexual intercourse that Wednesday night.
According to reports to the police, the man and woman were out on the beach from after dinner, sometime around 10 p.m. to 4 on the morning in question, May 18. When the woman returned to her room there was a discussion between her and her female partner. Her partner made a report to the authorities at the hotel and they called in the police.
Kline was arrested and charged.
During bail application before senior parish judge Andrea Thomas, Linton Gordon, the attorney for Kline told the magistrate that several details indicated consent and that the matter had come about out of malice and spite.
In the hearing this week, the court heard a statement written by a security guard about seeing the two together for some time. A medical report also reportedly found no semen on the complainant. Kline’s attorney said there was not enough to send the matter to a jury but the prosecution asked for the matter to go to the next session of the Circuit Court to which Judge Thomas agreed.
Kline and members of his family were in the court for the hearing. His bail was extended.
