LIVINGSTON — Lawyers for the state say that when a woman goes on trial a second time on first-degree rape and video voyeurism accusations, the public and the media should be kept out of the courtroom when the purported victim testifies.

However, the defendant, Melanie Curtin, says that evidence jurors will see for the first time will "unequivocally contradict" testimony from the original trial — and that the public is entitled to see her clear her name.

“The defense supports the courtroom being open to the public. This trial is too important to be closed at any point,” defense lawyer Alex Laird said Monday in a text message to WBRZ.

Curtin was arrested amid the high-profile investigation into former Livingston Parish deputy Dennis Perkins. Perkins and his wife Cynthia were arrested in October 2019 and ultimately faced 150 counts alleging they raped two children and an adult, produced child pornography and served schoolchildren baked goods contaminated with a bodily fluid. 

Perkins was sentenced to 100 years in prison after pleading guilty to a variety of charges, and Cynthia Perkins was sentenced to 41 years. Curtin was sentenced to a life term.

Curtin is accused of helping Perkins sexually assault an unconscious woman in 2014. Prosecutors say the assault was videotaped, leading to the voyeurism charge.

Curtin was convicted in 2021, but the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal said the trial judge erred when he admitted some evidence and rejected other items. The state Supreme Court refused to review the case this year, clearing the way for a new trial before 22nd Judicial District Judge Brian K. Abels.

According to records at the 1st Circuit, the excluded evidence included documentation of the purported victim pretending to be asleep during other alleged sexual encounters with Perkins and evidence of a video of the purported victim engaging in a sexual manner with others. Also, the appellate court said jurors should not have seen Curtin and Perkins engaging in a consensual sexual encounter because it was unrelated to the rape charge.

The state filed its motion to take part in the trial behind closed doors last week.

“We’re not asking for the trial to be closed. We have filed a motion asking that the courtroom be closed when the victim testifies to protect her. There are provisions in the law to protect vulnerable witnesses when they testify. We’re asking that the same protections be applied to our victim,” Attorney General Liz Murrill said.

"It's different if everyone agrees, but if somebody, the defendant is saying, no, no, no, whole thing needs to be [public]. The state is creating an appellate issue where there shouldn't be one," Legal Analyst Franz Borghardt said.

Borghardt says victims have certain rights and protections in Louisiana, but it doesn't disallow from a public trial. 

"I understand wanting to protect victims' rights. I understand that you don't want to have someone shamed, embarrassed, or made reluctant to come forward. However, this is the price of justice in our system, and disallowing just that part may not be enough to preserve the constitutional rights of the defendant," Borghardt said.

The witness testified against Curtin in the original trial. Curtin says the new testimony should be heard in public because an "open trial discourages perjury."

During the original trial, the purported victim testified in open court, but the public and media were kept from the courtroom while jurors watched the video that investigators discovered in 2019.

A decision is expected Oct. 27.