Trial proceedings have begun in the civil case of Vicky and Sylvester Schieber v. the City of Philadelphia.
Vicky and Sylvester are the parents of Shannon Schieber, the 23-year-old Wharton doctoral student who was raped and murdered nearly six years ago by Troy Graves, who was nicknamed the "Center City rapist."
Although Graves was convicted of the crimes and is currently serving a life sentence, the $3.8 million suit against the city alleges that negligence on the behalf of the City of Philadelphia contributed to the outcome of their daughter's death.
On May 7, 1998, Graves entered Schieber's apartment through the window, after which he proceeded to rape and strangle her to death while she struggled beneath him.
Shannon's body was discovered 18 hours after her death by a neighbor and Shannon's brother, who was visiting from out of town.
Graves was later caught by police in Fort Collins, Colo., and subsequently convicted in Philadelphia of six counts of rape and Schieber's murder.
However, at the time, two of Graves' rape investigations were classified not as rape, but as a lesser offense known as "investigation of persons." The lesser charge puts aggravated assaults, robberies, sex crimes and homicides in one category.
The civil suit charges that the downgrading of offenses was part of a wider trend that discriminated against women and failed to fully investigate sex crimes.
The suit claims that this practice violated Shannon Schieber's constitutional right to equal protection under the law as a result of the 14th Amendment.
Schieber family attorney and Penn Law professor David Rudovsky could not be reached for comment.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, in his opening statements, Deputy City Solicitor Jeffrey Scott said that "the City of Philadelphia did not cause her death, Troy Graves did. ... Troy Graves should be sitting at that table, not the City of Philadelphia."
However, the suit alleges that the police officers on duty at the time of a neighbor's 911 call would have been more likely to forcibly enter the apartment had they been better prepared and more aware of the ongoing violent crimes of the serial rapist.
On Wednesday, former Police Chief Inspector Vincent DeBlasis took the stand. According to the Inquirer, DeBlasis admitted that in a review of police reports from between 1995 and 1997, 351 cases had been misidentified.
However, he also admitted on cross-examination that assault crimes -- which are not gender specific -- were also downgraded to a lesser offense.
The case against the city was filed by the Schieber family shortly after Shannon was murdered in 1998. The family originally named the two police officers on duty in the suit, but those claims were dismissed nearly one year ago by an appeals court before ever going to a jury.
The police officers and the city had filed for a summary judgment, which means that even if all of the plaintiff's claims were true, the case would not be strong enough to proceed to a jury. The judge granted summary judgment for the police officers but denied it for the city.
