Momentum Builds for Review of 'Daisy's Case'

After Melinda Coleman decided to go public with the horrifying story of the rape of her daughter, Daisy, in Maryville, Mo., the state's lieutenant governor and House speaker are calling for the case to get a second look, the Kansas City Star reports. The attorney general previously said he had no authority to intervene unless asked by the county prosecutor; the House speaker asked him to reconsider that position, while the lieutenant governor suggested a grand jury be called given "the appalling facts in the public record." "Just to have the possibility of fairness, that’s just a huge change from what it was a week ago," Coleman says.

Her daughter, then 14, and a 13-year-old friend were allegedly raped by two local teens, but charges against the boys were ultimately dropped. Now new attention is being paid, including from hacktivist group Anonymous. The county prosecutor explained yesterday why the charges were dropped: "There was insufficient evidence to prove a criminal charge beyond a reasonable doubt. The state’s witnesses refused to cooperate and invoked their Fifth Amendment privilege to not testify." But the 13-year-old's mother says neither she nor her daughter were asked to testify before charges were dropped, and Coleman tells CNN she had also been cooperative. (More Daisy Coleman stories.)