Two months ago, Lawrenceville-based Leda Health traded lawsuits with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office. The commonwealth claims that the company's "early evidence" sexual assault kits do not comply with state law, while the startup claims that the state is infringing on its First Amendment right.
On Monday, arguments in that First Amendment case began to be heard before Federal Judge Cathy Bisson.
Attempting to have the case dismissed were the commonwealth, as well as the New York Attorney General, who is named in the suit because the state of New York took action against Leda Health when the company was previously based in Brooklyn. Their arguments suggest that Leda's marketing draws a connection between themselves and a standard, hospital-collected rape kit.
The states argued that because the Leda kits, which are not sold directly to consumers, are not a "scientific collection" like hospital kits that the language used misleads victims into believing that Leda's kits are a tangible replacement.
Leda Health CEO Madison Campbell, who founded the company after being sexually assaulted, was the first witness to testify. When explaining the test kit to the court, she pointed out that there are disclaimers that suggest victims seek medical treatment after an assault.
"We believe it is the most important thing for survivors to go to the hospital," Campbell said.
But she, and Leda's lawyers, also argued that approximately 60% of victims do not seek medical treatment. Campbell, drawing from her own experience, suggested that many of these victims do not want to be touched by a stranger and that Leda's kits give them the option of having some form of evidence collected, even if it is of a lesser standard.
The states' arguments focused on showing that the testing kits would face hurdles to evidence admissibility.
One of the Pennsylvania witnesses, Allegheny County Deputy District Attorney Jennifer DiGiovanni, suggested that a Leda kit could be "insufficient evidence" and that they force a victim to testify to its validity, as opposed to a nurse, who would be viewed as less biased.
"I've had victims tell me that testifying in court was as bad as their assault," DiGiovanni testified. "You're going to put a lot more burden on the victim."
When cross-examined by Leda's attorneys, however, DiGiovanni conceded that courts had, in the past, admitted self-collected evidence.
Leda's attorney also argued that its kits were not just to be utilized in criminal trials, but instances with lower burdens of proof, including civil trials and Title IX hearings, as well as "the court of public opinion."
Both Leda and the state of Pennsylvania closed the day requesting transcripts of the day before the case would move forward, which is expected to take about two weeks because of the holiday weekend. The state of New York closed the day once again moving to dismiss the motion, which Judge Bisson suggested would have to wait.
Bisson concluded the day by quoting Voltaire — "perfect is the enemy of good." She noted that the state has made no denials that Campbell and Leda's intentions with the product are good and that she is "left to wonder why" the parties do not meet to discuss changing the language present on the product or adding additional disclaimers to satisfy the government.
"There should be some resolution to this short of the battle royale," Bisson said.
