Ex-football player acquitted in rape trial

Kim Smith

Nov. 3, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Former UA defensive lineman Johnathan Turner was acquitted Monday of sexually assaulting a fellow student in April 2008.

Last week in Pima County Superior Court, a 20-year-old UA junior told jurors that she and a handful of other UA students got together at a house on the Tucson's northwest side. The group played drinking games for a few hours, and she decided to lie down on a couch because she began to feel ill, the woman said.

She said she woke up about 90 minutes later to find her pants off and Turner having sex with her.

Turner's DNA was found on the woman's breast, ear and lower abdomen.

Turner smiled hugely Monday as he left the courtroom, but declined to comment.

The woman hung her head and cried when the verdict was read. She sat in the courtroom for several minutes after it emptied out, being comforted by staff members of the Pima County Attorney's Office and a family member.

The jury, which was composed of four men and four women, declined to comment on the verdict.

Deputy Pima County Attorney Michelle Araneta told jurors during closing arguments Friday that Turner was guilty of sexual assault because the woman was asleep and/or impaired by alcohol and unable to give consent and Turner should have known that.

Defense attorney Richard Martinez told jurors that the sexual intercourse was consensual. The state failed to prove the woman was asleep or impaired by alcohol, Martinez said.

"There's nothing here other than reasonable doubt," Martinez said.

Investigators drew the woman's blood but never tested it, and Pima County sheriff's Detective Muriel McGillicuddy testified she didn't know if the woman was impaired, Martinez said. The woman also never mentioned being dizzy or ill prior to the trial, he said.

Moreover, the woman herself told investigators that she would have thought she'd wake up if someone was removing her jeans since they were so snug-fitting, Martinez said.

The defense attorney also pointed out that the woman initially said she woke up to find Turner on top of her, giving the impression she was on her back, but in later accounts she said she was lying on her side when she awakened.

Given Turner's size, the height of the couch and the position of a nearby coffee table, there is no way the event happened the way the woman described it, Martinez said. Turner could not have been with his knees on the floor, the defense attorney said.

"She's asking you to accept the most fantastic story possible," Martinez said.

Martinez reminded jurors one of the other women at the house that night testified the accuser is an untruthful person and she would trust Turner to spend the night with her without making any advances.

The same woman testified the accuser didn't behave differently in the weeks and months after the incident. During her testimony, Martinez showed jurors pictures of the accuser smiling and wearing a tiara on her birthday.

"It is time for this whole situation to be over," Martinez told jurors during closing arguments. "It's time for JT to begin to believe his life isn't over."

Araneta lambasted Martinez for suggesting there is a "normal" way for rape victims to behave. "To say she's not credible because she has the strength to move on is absolutely preposterous, and it just about takes us back to the Stone Age," Araneta said.

The fact the woman was able to return to school, attend extracurricular events and resume her social activities "goes to her strength of character," Araneta said.

The woman's birthday was five months after the incident, and no one knows what she was thinking while the pictures were being taken, Araneta said.

There is "absolutely no doubt" the woman was traumatized by the incident, Araneta said. She reminded jurors that the three other women in the house that night testified the accuser was at first hysterical and then subdued in the hours after the incident.

Araneta also asked the jurors to remember how Turner's story changed over time. He told one of the accuser's friends, his coach and detectives repeatedly that he did not have sex with the woman, but once his DNA was taken, he said they had consensual sex.

An innocent man would immediately proclaim his innocence and give his side of the story, Araneta said.

As for the positions of the accuser and Turner, Araneta said the woman assumed Turner was kneeling on the floor, but she knows he was hovering over her as she lay on her side.

Araneta said evidence of the woman's impairment was obvious. Not only did Turner tell police that the woman was "buzzed" and asleep, but he made several statements alluding to those facts, she said.

Judge Clark Munger presided at the trial in Pima County Superior Court.

Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com

Newstex ID: KRTB-0014-39385171