A Chattanooga man avoided serious time behind bars Thursday after jurors announced he was not guilty of especially aggravated kidnapping and rape in 2006.
“Sometimes good things happen and sometimes bad things happen,” Criminal Court Judge Don Poole told Orlando Evans. “And certainly a good thing happened: You were found not guilty. I hope this will be a change in your life. I sincerely do.”
Prosecutors argued that Evans, 27, raped a woman at a neighbor’s Cromwell Hills apartment during an armed intrusion with two other men on Nov. 30, 2006. The victim gave DNA swabs detectives used to connect Evans to the crime in 2013. After further investigation, Evans, who was a minor at the time in 2006, was charged in 2016 with especially aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape, both Class A felonies for which he faced 15-25 years.
His defense attorney, however, said the victim agreed to have sex with Evans in exchange for crack cocaine and then filed the rape accusation because Evans shortchanged her.
“The atrocity of this is that Mr. Evans has had to stand trial on a false accusation because she’s mad about only getting a $10 [crack] rock instead of a $20 rock,” attorney Zak Newman said during closing arguments.
Newman was unsure afterward if his client would be released from custody since he was recently granted parole for an unrelated federal drug charge.
“I want to thank the jury for listening to the testimony and examining all the facts presented in the case,” he said in a statement after the acquittal. “The jury vindicated my client and I appreciate their hard work, and Mr Evans appreciates their hard work.”
Prosecutors declined to comment.
Evans, whose trial began Tuesday, told jurors he started selling crack cocaine as a minor because he didn’t have much growing up as a child. He drove to the Brainerd area around Christmas 2006 after he received a phone call from a friend about a potential customer.
Evans said he and woman agreed to trade sex for drugs because she didn’t have the promised $20. Afterward, Evans gave her a smaller amount of crack cocaine than she expected.
Prosecutor Jason Demastus said that story wasn’t true.
The victim went to her neighbor’s house that evening to borrow some cooking grease for dinner, he said. That neighbor, now deceased, called the police after the three men ran away. For the defense’s story to be true, Demastus argued, the neighbor would have had to agree to let the victim use his apartment to make it look like it was ransacked.
“The defendant wants you to believe that over a drug transaction for $20 of crack in 2006, [the victim] gave a recorded statement to police, went to the rape crisis center and was examined, went before a stranger who took swabs of her, and continued to try to figure out what happened and then, 10 years later, decided to go and testify in Juvenile Court, and in 2017 to come in here and testify to you about what happened, over $20 of crack?” Demastus asked.
“I submit to you that is a story that’s not true,” he said. “It’s a story you should not let confuse you.”
Newman said the presence of DNA, however, didn’t prove a rape occurred. He noted during closing arguments that physical evidence didn’t place his client at the crime scene and that prosecutors hadn’t proved any kind of ransacking happened.
“If men are running through that house trying to find cash that isn’t going to exist in public housing, they’re going to be pulling out drawers,” Newman said. “That’s not the case. There’s no proof of this ransacking. There was no gunshot, no bullet. The fragment tested by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was not a bullet fragment.”
Judge Poole sent jurors to lunch around noon. They deliberated until 4 p.m., when they announced their verdict.
Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.
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UPDATE: After deliberating about four hours, jurors said Orlando Evans is not guilty of his especially aggravated kidnapping and rape charges.
He was on parole for an unrelated federal charge but will be released from custody in this case, his defense attorney, Zak Newman, said.
Evans faced 15 to 25 years behind bars for each charge.
“You made some statements that the federal sentence changed your life,” Criminal Court Judge Don Poole said after dismissing jurors. “I hope that’s true, sir. Sometimes good things happen and sometimes bad things happen. And certainly a good thing happened: You were found not guilty. I hope this will be a change in your life. I sincerely do.”
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ORIGINAL STORY: Jurors are now deliberating into the innocence of a 27-year-old man charged with rape and kidnapping in 2006.
Prosecutors say Orlando Evans raped a woman at a neighbor’s Cromwell Hills apartment during an armed intrusion with two other men on Nov. 30, 2006.
His defense attorney, however, said Evans is being falsely accused by a victim whom he shortchanged during a drug transaction.
“The atrocity of this is that Mr. Evans has had to stand trial on a false accusation because she’s mad about only getting a $10 [crack] rock instead of a $20 rock,” attorney Zak Newman said.
Evans, whose trial began Tuesday, told jurors he started selling crack cocaine as a minor because he didn’t have much growing up as a child. He drove to the Brainerd area around Christmas 2006 after he received a phone call from a friend about a potential customer.
Evans said he and woman agreed to trade sex for drugs because she didn’t have the promised $20. Afterwards, Evans gave her a smaller amount of crack cocaine than promised, prompting her to file a rape accusation with the Chattanooga police, Newman said.
Orlando EvansThe victim gave DNA swabs that night that detectives used to connect Evans to the crime in 2013, prosecutors countered. After further investigation, Evans, a minor at the time in 2006, was charged in 2016 with especially aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape, both Class A felonies that carry between 15 and 60 years.
Newman said the presence of DNA, however, didn’t prove a rape occurred and noted today during closing arguments that physical evidence didn’t place his client at the crime scene, which didn’t resemble an attempted robbery.
“If men are running through that house trying to find cash that isn’t going to exist in public housing, they’re going to pulling out drawers,” Newman said. “That’s not the case. There’s no proof of this ransacking. There was no gunshot, no bullet. The fragment tested by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was not a bullet fragment.”
Evans went to her neighbor’s house that evening to borrow some cooking grease for dinner, assistant district attorney Jason Demastus said.
That same neighbor, now deceased Charles Moore, called the police after being held at gunpoint during the intrusion, which showed the defense’s “false-accusation” argument was, in fact, false, Demastus said.
“The defendant wants you to believe that over a drug transaction for $20 of crack in 2006, [the victim] gave a recorded statement to police, went to the rape crisis center and was examined, went before a stranger who took swabs of her, and continued to try to figure out what happened and then, 10 years later, decided to go and testify in Juvenile Court, and in 2017 to come in here and testify to you about what happened, over $20 of crack?” Demastus asked.
“That she convinced an old man to use his apartment to make it look like it was ransacked, to concoct a story about what happened, and then to continue to participate in the prosecution of a man who raped her over $20 of crack in 2006?
“I submit to you that is a story that’s not true,” Demastus said. “It’s a story you should not let confuse you.”
Criminal Court Judge Don Poole sent jurors to lunch around noon. They will continue deliberations around 1:30 p.m.