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Jury acquits Walker again

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XENIA — A Greene County jury acquitted a 20-year-old accused of rape and gross sexual imposition after deliberating into the evening Jan. 24.

Twelve decided the fate of what became a “he said-she said” case, handing Myron Walker his second not guilty card in two consecutive Januaries.

As the verdicts were read, Defense Attorney Travis Kane clapped Walker on the back. Jurors filed out of the room, and Judge Stephen Wolaver turned to the defendant.

“Mr. Walker, this is the second time you’ve appeared in my courtroom and you’ve received a not guilty of rape each time,” he said. “My advice to you is to not have sexual relations with a woman in this county — do not be back here, because you don’t want to be in my courtroom — ever again. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, sir,” Walker replied.

Outside the courtroom, Kane spoke briefly about the case.

“We said from the beginning that it was consensual sex. So we’re happy that the jury agreed with us,” he said.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney David Morrison declined to comment.

The alleged victim and her friends walked down the courthouse steps in tears.

Testimony ended earlier in the day for the two-day trial, after several witnesses — including the defendant — took the stand.

“Did she say no?” Kane asked him.

“Not at all,” Walker responded from the witness chair.

“Is she pushing you off?” Kane asked.

“No,” Walker said.

“Is she scratching you?” Kane asked.

“No,” he replied.

“Is she fighting you?” Kane asked.

“No,” he said.

“Is she crying?” Kane asked.

“No,” Walker said.

“Did she yell for help?” Kane asked.

“No,” he responded.

“Is there any indication it was something she did not want?” Kane continued.

“No,” Walker replied.

Walker testified that the allegations were “a shock” and “totally false” — and that the sexual relations between the two Wilberforce University teenagers Jan. 22, 2017 in a Xenia home were consensual.

His last words before he stepped down were, “I’m not a rapist.”

But according to Morrison, the sex that day was not consensual.

“She keeps saying, ‘No, I don’t want this.’ You heard her testify,” Morrison said to the jury during closing arguments. “She’s scared; she doesn’t know what to do. All she can do is keep her clothes on as best she can. She was scared; she didn’t want to be there.”

He continued, “Everything she had said, everything she had done, everything she had wanted — he rapes her … What was going through her head at that moment? She said on the stand: ‘He won.’ He won. Those aren’t the words of consent. He won. So she turned and she cried.”

Kane argued that there was plenty of evidence to show consent in the case — enough for the jury to reach not guilty verdicts.

“She wants to portray Myron Walker as some violent predator to you — and, I think, to herself. She wants to portray to you that he lured her there with the intent of doing this against her will … She’s trying to show you a different version of events to suit her story.”

Kane listed, one-by-one, various discrepancies between Walker’s testimony and the woman’s testimony. Different details, he said, were left out of her story, or simply didn’t make any sense when added up.

Morrison pointed out to the jury that [victim] — who he described as “a good teenager” and as “involved in about everything [at school]” has been telling her story for over a year. That adds up to more than 20 times, she estimated the day prior in court.

“I’m sorry. You heard her say it — she didn’t consent to that. I don’t know what else to say,” Morrison said, pacing in front of the jury, often using his hands to tell the story.

During closing, Kane brought up another argument.

“You know what I think really happened?” he asked the jury rhetorically. “I think she probably felt regret. I think from that point on, because she felt regret that she did it, I think she psychologically manipulated herself to convince herself Myron is a predator.”

Morrison rebutted.

“You didn’t hear from a psychologist today,” he said to the jury. “It’s just almost unbelievable.”

The jury deliberated for a little more than two hours. Wolaver discharged Walker’s $50,000 bond and ordered him to be released immediately.

Anna Bolton | Xenia Gazette Bailiff Ron Mellotte hands the verdict forms to Defense Attorney Travis Kane and defendant Myron Walker. A year prior, on Jan. 12, 2017, a jury found Walker not guilty of two counts of rape and could not reach a verdict on gross sexual imposition, all three charges in a different case.
http://www.xeniagazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2018/01/web1_Verdict-1.jpgAnna Bolton | Xenia Gazette Bailiff Ron Mellotte hands the verdict forms to Defense Attorney Travis Kane and defendant Myron Walker. A year prior, on Jan. 12, 2017, a jury found Walker not guilty of two counts of rape and could not reach a verdict on gross sexual imposition, all three charges in a different case.

Assistant Prosecutor David Morrison questions Detective Gilbert on the stand during trial Jan. 24 as Detective Shawn Bradley listens.
http://www.xeniagazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2018/01/web1_WalkerDay2-3.jpgAssistant Prosecutor David Morrison questions Detective Gilbert on the stand during trial Jan. 24 as Detective Shawn Bradley listens.

By Anna Bolton

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Contact Anna Bolton at 937-502-4498 or follow @annadbolton on Facebook.