Ward trial delayed until next month

The trial of Marketing Professor Scott Ward, who was arrested last fall for allegedly soliciting sex from minors, has been delayed until at least mid-November, Montgomery County Deputy District Attorney Tom Egan said earlier this week. The start of Ward's trial has now been postponed three times since his arrest on Oct. 1, 1993, due to disputes about the validity of various charges the state has levied against him. Egan is the third prosecutor to be assigned to the case. Ward faces 11 counts in all, including criminal attempts to commit corruption of a minor and prostitution. Five of the counts stem from a state-sponsored sting investigation that led to his arrest, while the others were filed by a 17-year-old adolescent last February. The adolescent claims he had sexual contact with Ward between 50 and 100 times, beginning when he was 13-years-old. "There was a hearing [last month] to dismiss some charges based on insufficient evidence," Egan said. "It involved allegations of attempt to commit involuntary deviant sexual intercourse and attempt to commit indecent assault." Ward's attorney, Jean Green, has obtained a continuance until Oct. 17, but according to Egan the judge has to rule on the matter of insufficient evidence before the trial can proceed. "I anticipate that happening within the next couple weeks," Egan said. "It's kind of a routine practice to have motions [like this] filed, [to prove that] there wasn't a substantial step taken to facilitate these crimes." The time lag between Ward's arrest and trial should not adversely affect the state's case, he added, since such a lapse is common in complex cases like this. Also, all of the necessary witnesses are still available. Ward is teaching three sections of Marketing 621, a graduate course called "Marketing Management: Program Design," this semester. He said yesterday that he does not know the current status of his case, and referred all calls to his attorney Jean Green, who was out of town yesterday.