XENIA — A jury trial began Jan. 23 in Greene County Common Pleas Court for a Xenia man accused of raping a fellow Wilberforce University student.
Myron Walker, 20, was arrested Oct. 24, 2017, after a grand jury indicted him for rape and Gross Sexual Imposition, referring to an incident that allegedly happened Jan. 22, 2017 in a Xenia home.
“This case began one year ago yesterday on what was a relatively nice January day in Ohio … That relatively warm, relatively pleasant day turned into an absolute nightmare,” Assistant Prosecuting Attorney David Morrison said, opening to the jury.
Morrison said the incident began in the basement of Walker’s home, where the then-19-year-old woman had allegedly taken up the offer to use his washer and dryer in exchange for giving him a ride home. Testimony revealed that the two were acquaintances at school, played iPhone billiards against each other occasionally, but were not close friends.
According to Morrison, while her clothes were washing, she accidentally knocked over a glass of water. As the story goes, Walker took her by the arm and pulled her upstairs to get a mop. Upstairs, he allegedly pinned her up against the wall.
“I was confused, honestly, I thought we were going upstairs to get the mop … And I wasn’t giving off any impressions that I wanted him. And I verbally didn’t tell him that I wanted him so I was very confused why he was kissing me … ” [Victim] said to the jury.
She said she resisted.
” … The first time I told him, ‘No, stop, aren’t we getting the mop?’” she said.
He then, according to testimony, took her to a bedroom.
“That’s the room where it all happened,” she said.
There, she said, she resisted again.
“I was pushing him away, saying, ‘Stop, no, stop’,” she explained.
”… Everything was happening so fast. You always think [about] what would you do in a situation, but when it actually happens — for me — everything blanked. I stopped thinking.”
She testified on the stand that Walker raped her.
“At that point — he won. He got what he wanted,” she said. “He looked at me and said: ‘That never happened, right?’”
According to Defense Attorney Travis Kane, the events that took place that January day may have happened — but they were consensual.
“I’m not here to dispute the fact that Myron Walker and [Victim] had sex that day. I’m not even here to fight that issue. But what we are here to show you is that the sexual relations that they had was consensual and nothing more than that,” Kane said in his opening statements to the jury.
“So … well why would a girl claim rape when it was consensual?” Kane asked. “As the case goes on, that question will be answered for you. Now, she’ll come in and say that she is a victim of a horrible, violent crime. But, what you’ll also see, is that if that was true — [if] it was not consensual — she had every opportunity to get out of that situation. She had every opportunity to avoid putting herself in that situation. She had every opportunity to fight back. She had every opportunity to resist. She had every opportunity to call to her friend who was in the same house as her, who was supposed to be there for her. She didn’t do any of those things.”
Kane told the jury that evidence in the case would prove consensual activity.
“In fact, by the end of the trial, you will see the claim of rape is simply not held up and that it was, in fact, a 100 percent consensual interaction between Mr. Walker and [Victim],” he continued. “Mr. Walker may be guilty of being promiscuous as a young college student, he may be guilty of being reckless or careless in some of his relationships, but one thing he is not guilty of is rape.”
During cross-examination of the woman, Kane pointed out different pieces of the story that she had not told the jury, but had allegedly appeared in reports taken by police officers or the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner.
“We can agree a lot of things were forgotten?” Kane asked the victim.
“No; minor details, yes. But the story has been consistent. I know the truth,” she replied.
Walker has history in the same courtroom. On Jan. 12, 2017, a jury found him not guilty of rape following a different trial. The jury could not reach a verdict on a third charge, Gross Sexual Imposition.
Testimony will continue 9 a.m. Jan. 24 in Judge Stephen Wolaver’s courtroom.
