The Greeley woman accusing a former Greeley police officer of sexually assaulting her during a traffic stop last spring was apprehensive and uncomfortable — yet unwavering — on the stand throughout the day Wednesday as every bit of her story was picked apart by attorneys.
The woman, whose name will not be revealed because she is an alleged victim of sexual assault, often said she couldn’t remember the details of March 13 when she claimed then-officer Daniel Shepherd, 29, followed her from a party after ordering her to leave, pulled her over and sexually assaulted her on a darkened street east of Sanborn Park.
While defense attorneys worked to show she was lying about the account, and too drunk to remember the traffic stop accurately, prosecutors brought in back-up in the form of her sister, who recorded a cellphone call with her minutes after the alleged assault, and the police dispatcher, who called the woman for details of her story to report to police.
Shepherd’s attorneys have said that the young cop panicked when he saw the woman weaving on the road after having just allowed her to leave a party intoxicated. They said in opening statements Tuesday that he pulled her over and asked her to find a ride home because he would have gotten fired for letting an intoxicated driver on the road. The woman said Shepherd ordered her out of the car, held her hands behind her back and groped her beneath her clothes and sexually assaulted her. He said he never touched her.
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