DES MOINES, Iowa — The final witnesses testified early Thursday morning in the Safris vs. Urbandale Schools trial, with the jury entering deliberation as the court adjourned for the day.

The Safris family filed a lawsuit against Urbandale Schools alleging that due to negligence and noncompliance with policy their daughter was assaulted during class, leading to her eventually becoming suicidal.

The assault is alleged to have happened during the victim’s middle school English class in 2018. The victim sent explicit photos to a male classmate. He then began assaulting her during class and sharing the photos with others in school after she refused to date him.

The first witness on the stand Thursday was Ben Lighter, the victim’s 8th grade English teacher at Urbandale Schools. Lighter says that he never saw any assault happen and, due to the lack of blind spots in the room, he believes he would have seen something if it had happened. He says he was very involved in the classroom and was constantly moving around the classroom and interacting with the students.

“I believe any good teacher worth their weight in salt would make sure that every single student, no matter if they had an IEP or not, was being checked on,” said Lighter. “If a teacher is sitting at their desk with their head down, they are not doing their job. With what I believe, I believe that every single student had more than enough check ins, probably much more frequently than seven minutes.”

The second witness on the stand was Doctor Alan Jaffe, a Clinical and Forensic Psychologist who was called in as an expert and performed psychological evaluations on the victim. Jaffe performed a variety of tests, each testing the victim for different mental health issues in an attempt to understand her mental state. Jaffe believes that the victim has mental health issues but does not necessarily believe they are linked to the alleged events in eighth grade.

After the defense dismissed their final witness, the court moved into closing remarks and statements. The judge delivered jury instructions, directing them to use witness testimonies and evidence to best determine their ruling on this case.

The plaintiff’s attorney Cory Gourley delivered the closing remarks. Gourley reminded the jury of the sequence of events that occurred during the victim’s class and how the following events affected her life, as well as the permanent damage that has caused her to not be a fully independent adult. The attorney then explained why they have sought out the damages and how they determined what the appropriate damages would be. Finally, Gourley related the permanently altered state that the victim now lives in.

“She lives at home. She doesn’t go to school anymore. She has no friends other than her brother, who is going to go to college soon. She has no hobbies. She has no joy. She continues in therapy, under the care of a therapist. That’s the story of her life so far. Her father testifies that she is not the same person she was prior to the fall of 2018, and she never will be,” said Gourley.

During closing statements the defense attorney Janice Thomas said that Urbandale Schools followed the policies and procedures outlines in their handbook. It’s their belief that if the alleged assaults that the victim claimed happen, did happen, that the teachers and administrators of the school were not made aware and would not have been able to help. At the end of Thomas’ remarks, she related that the victim’s psychological evaluations were inconsistent and that her currently holding a job meant she did not meet the criteria sited in the lawsuit.

“Then she decides on her own she wants to go get a different job and she goes on her own, she gets a job at the bank. The job description, she’s a customer service rep., she’s a teller. She meets people and talks to people every single day when she’s at the bank,” said Thomas. “They’re saying she’s withdrawn and things of that nature, but is that the job that you’re going to do, go work at a bank?”

Once the council had finished their final statements the jury was dismissed for deliberation. The final verdict has been sealed and will not be read in front of an open court. There is no estimation as to how long it will take the jury to come to their conclusion.

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