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"He's accused of forcing a woman to undress and touching her, but a Louisville police officer said his case should be tossed out.Joseph Burden, 41, was charged with two counts of official misconduct.Mobile users: Tap here for videoBurden was accused of using his position to force a woman to pull her pants down and, in a separate incident, fondling the same woman.In court Wednesday, Burden's attorney argued if these incidents did indeed happen, they were personal, not official acts.In an attempt to dismiss the official misconduct charges, defense attorney Steve Schroering argued his client was not acting as a police officer last year if and when he, as the prosecution claims, instructed a woman who was a witness in a case to pull down her pants -- and, in another incident, allegedly inappropriately touched the same woman.\"All of which, if they were to have occurred, would have been personal acts, not acts like official acts, like placing a person under arrest,\" said Schroering.\"Every action that Joe Burden took that night was under the color of his authority as a police officer,\" said prosecutor Ingrid Geiser.Geiser argued Burden was not only acting as an officer, but that the victim complied with his request because he had a badge.\"She was scared of him because he was a police officer,\" said Geiser.Burden was absent from court Wednesday. He remains on administrative leave.Judge Annette Karem, who heard the arguments, said she will consider it all and decide whether Burden will stand trial or have this case dismissed.\"I will take this under consideration. I'm not going to rule from the bench,\" said Karem.Geiser also answered a question: Why wasn't Burden charged with sexual abuse? According to the prosecutor, he could have been, but the county chose to keep it simple for the jury.That trial will happen only if the judge denies Wednesday's motion to dismiss. There is no word on how long that will take.Another motion challenging the constitutionality of the case is scheduled to be heard if Burden's case does go forward.That motion is scheduled to be heard on Jan. 16.\u00A0"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wlky.com/article/arguments-begin-in-trial-of-officer-accused-of-making-woman-strip/3746852>