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Defense acknowledges in closing arguments that Columbus man attacked college student
By Stephanie Warsmith
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008
Christopher Butts admits to one of the four rapes he is accused of but maintains his innocence in the other three, his defense attorney told jurors in closing arguments Monday.
Troy Reeves questioned the evidence linking his client to the other attacks, calling the DNA analysis ''junk science'' suggesting these assaults were committed by someone the women knew — or by an attacker who's still out there.
''It's somebody else — and I still don't think they have him,'' Reeves said wrapping up the defense case in Summit County Common Pleas Court.
The 24-year-old Columbus man is charged with 22 counts, including rape and attempted rape, stemming from attacks on four women between September and January. Three happened in the University of Akron area, while the fourth was in a North Hill neighborhood.
If convicted, Butts, who rejected a plea offer, could face a sentence longer than his life expectancy.
Following closing arguments Monday afternoon, Judge Paul Gallagher issued instructions to jurors and then sent them home. Deliberations were to begin at 9 a.m. today.
None of the victims was in the packed courtroom Monday, though the mother of one was present. Butts' friends and family took up the row behind him. He nodded to them as he was escorted into the courtroom, dressed in a suit but wearing handcuffs that a deputy removed.
Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh gave a 70-minute closing argument, going through each count and explaining how the
state had proved it. She said the four women were sleeping, awakened in terror and sexually assaulted. ''They lost trust and security because of what this man here did to them,'' she said, pointing to Butts.
Walsh said the women, whom she called ''survivors,'' were brave for reliving their assaults in court. She said the attacks changed their lives forever.
Walsh said the evidence linking Butts to the assaults includes fingerprint and DNA matches from the crime scenes, the testimony from the victims — who gave similar accounts of their attacks — and Butts' confession to the last of the rapes that happened Jan. 7.
Taped admission
Walsh said that in a taped interview with Akron Detective Bertina King, Butts admitted to crawling into the bedroom window of the 21-year-old Akron student. He claimed he asked her if she wanted to have sex and she said, ''OK.''
''If she would have said, 'No, man,' I would have left,'' Walsh said he told King.
Walsh said King didn't believe his account because ''who crawls into a window to have consensual sex?''
Walsh said several of the DNA samples linking Butts to the assaults showed this match only could occur with one in 22 quintillion people.
The names of the victims are being withheld under a Beacon Journal policy of not identifying victims of sexual assault.
Reeves acknowledged Butts' confession, which the two sides fought over admitting into evidence — with most of it getting in. He said his client admits being guilty of rape and gross sexual imposition with this victim.
''He owns up to his mistakes,'' Reeves said. ''But he's not admitting to things he didn't do.''
Reeves said the whole case can be summed up in one word: ''Identification.'' ''Not one person can identify Butts,'' he said.
Reeves said detectives got a confession from Butts on one attack, then assembled evidence to pin the three other, unsolved assaults on him. He said the DNA evidence was done by people who work for the state's crime lab and act as ''professional witnesses'' for the prosecution.
Reeves attempted to poke holes in the other three cases, pointing to problems like the victims giving descriptions of their attackers that didn't match Butts, fingerprints being found at some scenes and not others, and inconsistent testimony.
Acquittal request
Reeves told the jurors they are not supposed to hold it against Butts that he chose not to testify.
He said he thinks jurors should find Butts guilty of the attack he confessed to, acquit him on another assault he claims is most questionable and decide whether they trust the DNA evidence in the other two.
Mary Ann Kovach, Walsh's chief counsel, rebutted Reeves' closing argument, saying the crime lab technicians independently analyzed the DNA evidence and had no reason to lie or inflate the results. She said Reeves questioned why there was no DNA evidence at one crime scene that had fingerprints, and no fingerprints at another scene with DNA.
''No matter what we do, it's not enough,'' she said. ''It's really not that simple. There's different evidence in different cases . . . the evidence is overwhelming.''
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.
com.
Christopher Butts admits to one of the four rapes he is accused of but maintains his innocence in the other three, his defense attorney told jurors in closing arguments Monday.
Get the full article here.
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