Roscommon Rape
This report is an account of a rape and the subsequent trial that occurred in Roscommon County during the 2011 Memorial Day weekend. I served as the Jury Foreman for the trial. I have changed the names of the participants in the case to protect the anonymity of the underage victim of the assault.
The victim, her family, and the rapist.
Alisa was a typical 13 year-old living in a single parent home in a Detroit suburb. Her mother, Angel, had been raising Alisa with the help of her sister, Candy, and the grandparents, Arnie and Thelma. Angel worked at Ford during the afternoon shift. She went to work each day just one hour after Alisa got home from school, only enough time to the two of them to share a Frappe at MacDonalds before Angel dropped her off at Candy’s house.
Candy loved Alisa as if she were her own daughter. She and her husband Scott had been watching over Alisa since she was a baby and it seemed as natural as water for Alisa to spend so much time with them, especially since her parents, Angel and Candy’s mom and stepdad, lived just across the street from Candy. In fact, Alisa spent almost as much time there as she did at Candy’s house and probably more time than she spent at her own home with her mom. And that was OK, 55 year old Arnie adored his granddaughter. Everyone said the family of grandparents, two daughters, one son-in-law and granddaughter Alisa were an extremely close family.
Alisa often stayed overnight at Candy’s house especially if Angel had to work overtime or if there was some other reason. One unfortunate reason for many of the 2011 ‘overnighters’ was bullying by some of Alisa’s classmates. The bullies followed her home and banged on the front door shouting obscenities. Alisa was happy to stay with Candy after those occurrences while her mom went to the school and arranged for help from the school counselor who met with Alisa several times.
One thing that made the living arrangements work at Candy’s house was Scott’s handicap. Scott had been injured in August, 2006 and two surgeries followed for repair of his back. Scott walked with a cane and his condition resulted in his being a ‘house-husband’ while Candy worked and provided the household income through her career at Chase Bank as an investment advisor. Scott had been married before he met Candy and had a son, Scott Jr. Junior, now 18, had lived with Scott and Candy on and off. Recently, he had been living in the basement of Candy’s home. Since he had once been accused of rape, Angel asked Candy if she would sleep on the couch with Alisa when Alisa stayed over. Candy readily agreed and the two spent many nights together on the sofa while Candy’s husband slept in their bed.
The assault
One thing that Scott and several members of the family enjoyed was visiting Roscommon for camping weekends. Scott had a buddy, Rick, who had access to a parcel of forest land in Roscommon County. Rick and Scott both enjoyed the same things while camping: riding four-wheelers and shooting handguns at targets propped against a small hill of sand. On Memorial Day weekend, Scott and Rick agreed to meet at the Roscommon camping site for a weekend campout. It was not an unusual plan, the two had camped there several times over the years, often with various members of Scott’s family; sometimes Angel, Candy, Alisa and others since Rick didn’t mind who came along with Scott.
This time was different. Angel had to work so she couldn’t go on the campout and Candy was studying for a test. She had to pass an examination at Chase Bank to qualify for a promotion so she decided to stay home and study. Candy thought it might be better if Alisa didn’t go either since only the two men were going and there was likely to be drinking and shooting involved. Angel decided it would be OK to let Alisa go with Scott. She said she would come to the campground on Saturday and meet up with Scott, Alisa and Rick who were leaving Thursday afternoon for Roscommon.
The trip went as planned with only a brief delay when Scott stopped enroute at Angel’s house to smoke weed with Angel. After that diversion, Scott’s trip north went without incident and he arrived at the campground to learn that Rick was already there. Scott and Alisa busied themselves in setting up camp. Alisa piled her air mattress, sleeping bag and duffle bag into a tent while Scott arranged a mattress in the back of his pick-up truck, inside the cap, just like he always did.
Since Scott and Alisa ate their dinner at Halo Burger on the way to Roscommon, neither was hungry after they set up camp. Since it was getting dark, Alisa climbed into her tent intending to read her vampire book. She discovered her mother had included a coloring book in her bag along with her clothes. She was cold. She put on a pair of sweat pants over her shorts and a tank top over her T-shirt. Still not satisfied, she put her coat on over her clothes and jammed her hands inside socks that she found in her duffel bag. She drifted off to sleep in her sleeping bag to the sound of Rick and Scott laughing as they finished a half pint of Jim Beam whiskey and then opened the half-gallon bottle that Rick furnished. In between the drinks, the men puffed on marijuana as they sat around the campfire.
It was pitch black when the men finished their drinking and smoking and the night air was cool in the middle of the Jack Pine forest in Roscommon County. After midnight, silence ruled and the thirteen year-old Alisa slept soundly. Suddenly, she awoke in the middle of the night the ferocious pain of a finger stuck in her vagina.
The Testimony
I wasn’t called with the first wave of jurors that were seated for the trial and I was beginning to hope that I could go home. The Judge and the two lawyers were relentless however, as they dismissed one juror after another and then seated replacements. Finally, my number came up as a replacement jurist and I took my place in the middle of the second row of the jury box. I faced the judge and the attorney’s rostrum that sat practically in the center of the new, spacious courtroom. As soon as I sat down the Judge asked a few perfunctory questions and then looked away as I answered. Suddenly the Judge and the lawyers seemed no longer interested in challenging and dismissing jurors. I had conjured up at least three reasons why I would be unsatisfactory as a jurist, but the Judge seemed suddenly intent on other matters so I sat silently, cursing my bad luck.
From then on, the clock seemed to move very slowly. I spent an entire morning listening to repetitious and boring legal matters that seemed of little import. Toward lunchtime, I was startled with what seemed to be a sudden announcement: “The Proscecutor calls Alisa Christian to the stand.” Apparently, the trial had begun and I was stuck as a jurist, like it or not.
A short, black-haired young woman entered the room, was sworn in, and then walked tentatively toward the witness box. She was dressed in a stylish, but conservative gray suit and she looked the part of a woman in her early twenties. I soon learned that she was Alisa, 14 years old. At the nod of the Judge, The Prosecutor stood and began questioning her. As her answers rolled out hesitantly, it became apparent that she was indeed a 14 year old, brave, but frightened little girl. The Prosecutor asked question after question to establish first her family connections and then information about the camping trip. He carefully asked her what happened in the middle of the night and what she observed when she awoke. She said it was Scott, her uncle, who was violating her. The Prosecutor asked if he was in the room and she pointed at a suited, brown haired younger man sitting at the table. Then she burst into tears.
She testified for the rest of the morning as the Prosecutor slowly and painfully drew out the details of the assault. She said that her uncle pulled her sweat pants down, removed her bra and groped her breasts, and put his knee between her legs at which time she felt another pain, this one different and higher up on her belly. Between tears she described how he forced her to stroke him, ultimately finishing his depredations upon her leg. Later, she found a wet spot on her sweat pants. She said that during the assault Scott said little beyond some unmentionable sexual ravings (my words, not hers) except that he told her it was because her aunt wouldn’t sleep with him.
He left her alone afterwards and she went to sleep. She testified that the next day she didn’t leave the tent except once. When Scott saw her out of the tent, he told her to follow him and they walked into the woods. He then pulled a handgun, pointed it at her head at point blank range, and told her she was not to tell anyone what had happened. She returned to her tent and spent the rest of the day inside, not leaving to eat or drink. The following day Scott allowed her use of his cell phone and she called her mother saying she wanted to come home. Scott told her they would leave the following day, Saturday. Again, she spent another day alone in her tent.
Candy testified that when Scott and Alisa arrived home on Saturday morning, Alisa left the truck and went directly to her Grandfather’s house. When Grandfather Arnie saw her, he asked her what was wrong. She burst into tears and gradually told her story. Candy testified that she then called her husband to the house where she confronted him with Alisa’s story. His answer confirmed to Candy that he was indeed guilty even though he denied it. “He answered in a high-pitched squeaky voice that I had never heard before. At that moment, I knew he did it, she said.” Candy said she told him that she was calling the police.
Arnie’s testimony mirrored Candy’s. Arnie added that he told Scott to get the #### (expletive deleted) out of his house. Scott left the house and then shortly left his own house, carrying with him all the camping gear and the four-wheelers that were in the trailer attached to his pick-up. Arnie said that Scott’s father arrived the following day to return the borrowed trailer. Inside the trailer were Alisa’s duffel bag and camping gear. Arnie said he stowed the gear in his locked garage.
Angel testified that the following day, Sunday, she and Alisa went to the Houghton Lake State Police Post to file a complaint against Scott. A trooper conducted an interview with Alisa concerning the assault. Alisa consented to be examined and so she went first to a hospital and then a woman’s center to have a rape kit procedure completed. It was not successful as Alisa screamed and then asked that it be stopped due to extraordinary pain from the inserted device.
Scott’s former friend Rick testified about the camping trip but he was unable to add any information concerning the assault since he was asleep when it occurred and he said he heard nothing, but that his tent was some distance from Alisa’s tent. Rick’s manner was curious in that he said he had not seen Scott since the camping trip and he expected never to see him again in view of recent events. He did not elaborate on his remarks.
Both the State Trooper and Forensic Technician from the Grayling Crime Lab testified about their investigation. Neither was able to offer proof of Scott’s guilt since insufficient physical evidence was found, the rape kit was inconclusive, and no DNA evidence was available. A key piece of evidence was missing, the sweat pants with the wet stain was not in the duffel bag when it was returned by Scott’s father.
The last to testify was Scott. The Defense Attorney interrogated him and then the Prosecutor. He sat stocially at the witness stand and answered each question in a monotone. He corroborated all of Alisa’s testimony except the assault. He said it never happened.
The Jury Deliberates
Our legal system demands that defendants are innocent until proven guilty by a jury of 12 citizens who must be unanimous in their opinion of guilt. Further, the requirement is that guilt must be established “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Clearly, our system sets a high bar to avoid punishment of the innocent.
The high standard required by law was defined further by the Judge. He furnished a nine-page set of instructions that enumerated the charges against the Defendant and listed the elements of proof needed to find him guilty. The instructions included a set of rules about evidence the jury was to consider as well as those things the jury should disregard. The rigorous set of instructions made the jury’s job harder.
I agreed to become the Jury Foreman. I called for the first vote on Scott’s guilt or innocence shortly after we began our deliberations. The vote was seven to five, nearly a perfect split. I was with the majority who believed that the assault occurred, but some felt that the evidence did not rise to the level required by law while others felt strongly that Scott was innocent.
We spent the rest of the day going over details. We decided to review the testimony concerning the missing sweat pants; we wanted to know who knew they were missing, when it was reported they were missing, who had the opportunity to remove them from the duffel bag, etc. We asked the Judge for help and he responded by reconvening the court, providing his recall of the testimony about the pants and advising that we had the right to review the transcript of any particular testimony that we wanted. We asked for and received the trooper’s testimony that was read aloud to us in open court. Neither the Judge’s recall nor the re-reading of testimony helped.
We discussed the issues. Tempers flared. Personal experiences were revealed. One juror explained that he had been wrongly accused of rape so he knew that Scott was innocent. It was an emotional and exhausting experience. Some of us had the acid taste of having being witness to an atrocious, heinous act performed on an innocent child by a trusted relative, while others saw a conspiracy between an experienced young woman and a cunning aunt.
Deliberation continued into the next day. Overnight, two jurors changed their minds. The new vote was nine to three for finding the Defendant guilty. The question became simple: Do you believe her, a 14- year old school girl, or him, a 38-year old house-husband who walks with a cane?
Finally, the jury was able to come to terms with a verdict that all supported. We found the Defendant not guilty on four of five charges that could not be proved “beyond a reasonable doubt.” On the fifth charge, the jury sided with the 14-year old, deciding that an assault did indeed occur by the Defendant, her uncle. We found him guilty of Criminal Sexual Contact, a serious charge that forever labels perpetrators as convicted sexual predators. At the end of the trial, the Defendant was returned to jail to await sentencing. After much soul-searching, I am pleased to report that our legal system works and we now have one less predator on the streets. Hurrah!
