The Glen Ridge Rape Trial: 1992-93

Defense attorney Michael Querques, representing Kevin Scherzer, argued that Fisher provoked the rape and enjoyed it. "There are some girls," he said, "who are Lolitas." He urged the jury to view defendant Scherzer not as the 21-year-old in the courtroom but as a teenager. To prove that Fisher was obsessed with sex, Querques reviewed doctor's records showing that her mother had had him prescribe birth control pills for her because she was sexually active. And, for two hours, the lawyer lectured the jury on the sexual revolution and the sex lives of today's teenagers.

As its chief witness, the defense introduced defendant Christopher Archer's brother Paul, an eyewitness. He said he saw Fisher "voluntarily doing everything" and added, "She made all the advances. It was all her idea."

The next day, Archer changed his testimony. Now he said Kevin Scherzer actively manipulated the broomstick during the rape of Fisher. During his third day as a witness, Paul Archer admitted lying to investigators in order to protect his pals.

Summing up, prosecutor Glenn Goldberg spent 14 hours and 15 minutes over six days. "This mentally defective girl," he concluded, "can be taunted, teased, abused, poked, and prodded with sticks, but she matters and her life matters, too."

The jury deliberated for 12 days. On March 16, 1993, it found all four young men guilty, to various degrees, of conspiracy to commit aggravated sexual assault and aggravated sexual contact.

On April 23, 1993, Judge R. Benjamin Cohen sentenced Grober to probation. The other three defendants received indeterminate sentences, not to exceed 15 years, in "youthful offenders" prison. The judge then permitted the three to go free on $2,500 bail each while their lawyers filed appeals.

After the Appellate Division of New Jersey Superior Court reduced Kyle Scherzer's sentence to seven years, letting Archer's and Kevin Scherzer's sentences stand at 15 years, all three entered prison. The New Jersey Supreme Court refused to review the case. Kyle Scherzer was paroled in 2000. His twin and Archer remained in prison in 2001.