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Police Can't Verify Woman's Rape Report At Gasparilla '07

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 14, 2009

Updated: 01/14/2009 05:39 pm

TAMPA - The woman's story sounded like a nightmare: raped during 2007's Gasparilla festivities, then jailed once police discovered she was wanted on an outstanding warrant.

The national media attention caused Tampa police to change department policy about when to arrest crime victims. But the interaction between detectives and the woman grew bitter, with the woman filing a lawsuit against the city.

The lawsuit was dismissed last month, and now – with this year's revelry weeks away – police say they can't find any evidence that the woman was attacked. The case has been classified as "inactive" since June.

Police released the 52-page investigative report today in response to a public records request from The Tampa Tribune.

The report shows police found no DNA or other physical evidence in the case, and "glaring differences between the victim's statements and what the investigation revealed."

The woman's attorney, Virlyn "Vic" Moore III of Venice, said he and the woman remain "indignant" about the police department's "absurd and outrageous conclusions."

"The idea that this didn't happen is absurd," he said. "This report is not an investigative report but a piece of propaganda to protect their public relations posture."

Police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said the case remains open, should the woman want to talk to police in the future.

McElroy said Moore made the woman unavailable for questions, citing a letter Moore wrote dated Feb. 9, 2007, in which he said he thought police were trying to impugn the woman's credibility.

She "will not answer any questions … not reasonably calculated to catch the rapist," he wrote, telling police to submit their questions to him and "please not communicate with her unless I am present."

Today, Moore said that he and the woman were cooperative with police. "We rolled out the red carpet," he said. "She has answered every single question that they have posed to her."

McElroy said the case still has "too many discrepancies" for detectives to take the investigation farther. It never reached a point where police considered charging the woman with making a false report, she said.

Jennifer Dritt, executive director of the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence, said it's not uncommon for rape victims to remember an attack differently over time because of trauma.

McElroy said detectives often discover discrepancies during a case. "What is uncommon is that you can't talk to a victim and resolve them."

On Jan. 27, 2007, the woman, then 21, told police she had gone to the Gasparilla parade on with friends, then walked alone to her car to fetch her ID. She said a man dragged her into some bushes on South Howard Avenue, forced her to the ground, raped her and took her panties, the report states.

The woman called a friend and reported the rape. The friend insisted the woman call police, but she refused, so the friend called for help, police said.

A nurse examined the woman, who provided some clothes for forensic analysis. The nurse told police the woman did not surrender her shirt or bra because the shirt "did not belong to her" and the bra was "too expensive," the report states.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement analysis found no semen from the examination or on the woman's clothing. The analysts also found no grass, grass stains or dirt on the clothing, the report states.

Police drafted a composite sketch of the rapist from the woman's description, which generated several tips, none of them fruitful.

The investigation raised questions, police said in the report. They include:

*The woman told the friend to whom she reported the rape that she did not need an examination because the man had used a condom. The woman told police he "probably didn't wear a condom."

*The woman initially said that after the attack she walked to her car parked at the University of Tampa. Days later, she told detectives she took a cab from South Howard Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard. Police consulted all cab companies in Tampa and found no record of the ride. They also found no record of a call she said she placed to directory assistance.

*The woman said she was raped between 510 and 508 S. Howard Ave. in an open area of grass and dirt. On an interview with "Inside Edition" about her arrest, she said she was raped behind a fence.

*The woman could not identify in a photo array a registered sexual predator who matched her detailed description of the rapist. She later identified someone incarcerated in Pasco County as the rapist after seeing his picture on television. Police found he did not match her description of the rapist having crooked teeth with a gap between them, nor had he been to Gasparilla.

The report describes a March 1, 2007, meeting at Moore's office, where Detective Melanee Holder outlined the inconsistencies and "a few other facts that could not make any sense if this crime occurred," the document states.

Holder explained the lack of DNA and other physical evidence, and suggested the woman had filed the report "to make her friends feel guilty for leaving her and letting her walk to her car alone."

Moore ordered Holder and another detective with her to leave, the report states.

Police arrested the woman hours after she reported the rape once they discovered she was wanted for a warrant related to about $4,000 of unpaid restitution in a juvenile case. After her release from the Orient Road Jail, the woman accused the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office of denying her emergency contraception because of a jail nurse's religious beliefs. The sheriff's office found that miscommunication was to blame.

Gasparilla parade organizers couldn't be reached for comment.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.

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