Observing a rape trial in Cincinnati

Race, violence, and justice. How has race mattered in the rape trial I've been observing? 1. Yesterday, the defendant called his one and only witness. She's a former girlfriend, the mother of one of the alleged victims. They had a long Q&A or conversation, maybe 45 minutes. The judge interrupted them, periodically, supposedly for the sake of the court reporter (never the jury IIRC) sitting 3 feet from the witness, to tell them to speak more slowly or more loudly, not to speak over each other. But the problem wasn't their speed or volume, it was their 𝘈𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 (see article below). 2. The defendant and the 4 victims are African American. But nearly everybody judging the case is (or passes as) white. The whites include the judge, the prosecution team (except 1), 10/12 jurors, the backup public defender, the victim advocates, the social workers (well, I missed 1 or 2), the clerk, the bailiff, and all the police o...

Conclusion of a rape trial in Cincinnati : Closing arguments. Verdict. Next steps. The accused nodded at me today and asked how I was doing. I asked him, too — He said that he did what he could and there were things he couldn’t say (due to objections sustained). But we were interrupted by a police officer, unlike other days, who said that I must not speak in the courtroom. After it was all over, I spoke with the prosecutor. She said that she finds the closing the most difficult part. She meant her statement, I think, though she seemed a bit nervous or hesitant in her rebuttal (below). She wondered whether this was the first time I ever sat through a whole trial (yes) and so she asked me for my impressions, compared to what I expected to see. I mentioned the intimacy of the courtroom, the familiarity among the professionals, the level of activity that the jury doesn’t see (which she said is much greater in other cases), and I appreciated the way she spoke respectfully, a...

𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘴.  Caution: This report may be disturbing -- sexual violence, drug abuse, mental health, and neurodivergence. . . . . After the morning session had officially ended, I spoke with the defendant. I just asked him a few questions, What are you thinking? Do you think testifying will help your case? He said the situation is very difficult with the case against him, with both sets of charges. He said that he hadn't had much time to prepare and hadn't worked with a lawyer. (𝘜𝘱 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘺 1. 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘴...

Third day of a rape trial. Yesterday the 4 victims testified. Today, the jury heard from social workers who had done forensic interviews with them at various times. The rapes were report in both Hamilton County (2 girls) and Cincinnati (2 boys) police jurisdictions. The detective for the former testified today, but the detective for the latter will take the stand on Friday, when the trial resumes. Learned some remarkable aspects of the case. 1. When the Cincy detective approached the defendant about the 2018 accusations, the guy sorta got on his high horse and told her (in effect), why are you bothering me again, "I already went thru this before and I was cleared. So, did she only learn of the 2012 case from the flip attitude of the accused!? Note: At the end of the 4th day, I asked the Cincinnati detective how she learned about the 2012 case, She said that it showed up in a records search because CPD has referred the case to Colerain (i.e., Hamilton County)....

Second day of a rape trial.  Today (Tuesday) the trial centered on the testimony of two (alleged) victims from 2012 and two from 2018. They were all minors at the time, one is now about 18 years old. After yesterday, a big difference was that the defendant, still representing himself, questioned each witness. At least three were highly effective witnesses. They were consistent, calm, clear, and... under cross-examination, they spoke directly to the defendant, didn't flinch, and accused him of sexual abuse and violence. One witness was especially riveting and even inspiring, in her courage and power to confront him. I believe that they way he did the questioning, though rather restrained and conversational at times, can only undermine his defense. For instance, he put himself into their narratives, which they repeated thru their answers, and they stood up to his challenges. (An 11 year old was somewhat less effective, possibly confused by the sometimes repetitive...

First day of a rape trial in Cincinnati. Today I observed the beginning of a trial in Cincinnati's county court -- several counts of rape against minors. Defendant is representing himself but only repeats that he does not consent to trial. Jurors questioned (only by prosecution) and three were dismissed. The courtroom is fairly relaxed, which I sometimes found disconcerting. The assigned public defender moved to the public seats, near me. One juror dismissed presumably because wanted to know why case not pursued by a now retired detective circa 2012, as mentioned by prosecutor. The accused repeatedly cites the UCC (Uniform Commercial Code), apparently claiming to be a “sovereign citizen” not subject to the state. Well, initially he argued w the judge about the type of trial, as if questioning whether it should be a bench or jury trial. But when the judge asked whether he wanted bench instead of jury trial, he didn’t respond directly. So she took that as a pass and ...

Emotions and testimony If there's a "typical" rape trial, are victims steered to testify about the pain and feelings that they experienced? Or do prosecutors tend to downplay the emotional aspects? I'm observing a trial in Cincinnati. The victims were minors, ages 7-10 at the time, 2 girls and 2 boys. In their testimony, they said little about their emotions -- and the prosecutor didn't asked them about it IIRC. Perhaps with an adult victim of rape, the prosecutor has to show a lack of consent and thus might focus more on emotional and physical pain? Whereas when the victims are children, would the prosecution downplay emotions because they assume that jurors would imagine the worse, or would already see rape of children as intrinsically monstrous enough? Or because they want to (appear to) protect the survivors' from undue trauma? Or because a child's capability to testify is fragile, so they keep to the basic observable facts? We...

Defendant's prior criminal record For the rape trial that continues today, I've put together much of the defendant's prior record. I think this includes most of the convictions, though it doesn't include arrests (and a few dismissed charges, e.g. thefts where it seems the witnesses did not show up) not counted. There were 53 items in the Hamilton County record (on 5/24/19). The record shows an effort at alternative sentencing and "theft school" in 2003, with several years of incarceration starting in 2009. The initial set of alleged rapes were perpetrated shortly after he was released from prison , in 2012. He briefly alluded to his time in prison in his testimony, day 4. 7/18/2002 Resisting arrest $80 4/22/2003 Forgery. 9/9/03 Judgment entry: sentence to community control the defendant is to pay a fine of $1,000 and court costs. The defendant is to pay restitution of $389.22 to Krogers. The defendant must perform 350 hours of communit...

Timeline of the rape case and trial, based on court records. I noticed that bail was at $1.6 million. . . . June 2012: First incidents reported (two girls), case was accidentally dropped by Hamilton County, resumed in December 2018.* April 2017: Second incidents (two boys), reported in March and November 2018 2/7/19 Precipe for Warrant Filed and Warrant issued. Indictment. 2/8/19 Arrested 2/11 Charged. Judge Assigned Case. Entry Appointing Counsel 2/13 Hamilton County Sheriff: I Have In Custody And Have Served Copy Of Indictment On Said Defendant By Deputy Sheriff 2/13 Defendant's Demand For Discovery. Request For Bill Of Particulars. Request For Notice Of Intention To Use Evidence  2/14 Plea Of Not Guilty Entered At Arraignment. Bond $1.6 Million. 2/26 State's Response To Defendant's Demand For Discovery. 3/25 Motion For Discovery 3/29 Report Of Examiner Pursuant To Law. Report Located In Clerk Of Courts Office Rm 315. Competency  4/3 Prosecut...