A jury of four women and eight men deliberated about five hours Thursday in a case involving a man accused of raping a former girlfriend in January 2013.
Frederick Kourtney Cain Jr., 34, denied any wrongdoing Thursday morning under questioning from Texarkana defense attorney Jeff Harrelson. Cain claimed the woman called police and accused him of rape Jan. 5, 2013, after the two had a consensual sexual encounter. Cain said he believes the woman was angry because he wouldn’t have an exclusive relationship with him.
The alleged victim testified Wednesday under questioning from Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell that she had broken off a short dating relationship with Cain in late 2012 after noticing “red flags” in Cain’s behavior. The woman described Cain as aggressive and controlling and said that she found it odd he did not want to meet her friends and did not disclose details about his own life to her.
The woman said that when Cain attempted to call her several times during the weeks after their relationship ended, she would hang up the phone and eventually deleted his number.
The woman testified that she did not check her peephole the afternoon of Jan. 5, 2013, because she was expecting a friend who was visiting from out of town. The woman said she was afraid to close the door in Cain’s face because of prior experience and decided to invite him into her living room.
The woman said that when Cain asked her if she was “talking to” anyone, she decided to say yes because she thought he might realize their relationship was over and leave. The alleged victim testified that Cain grabbed her wrists and began pulling her toward the bedroom. The woman said she repeatedly told Cain she did not want to go into the bedroom but he pulled her there anyway, pushing her on the bed as she said, “No,” repeatedly.
The woman said she tried to keep her legs closed and pressed her knees against Cain’s chest but her overpowered her. The woman said she was crying and began to have a panic attack. The woman said Cain stopped assaulting her when she began to shake and hyperventilate.
“He told me, ‘It isn’t rape because we’ve had sex before,'” the alleged victim testified.
The woman testified that while Cain was in her apartment, the woman managed to contact a friend using her cell phone. She pretended that the friend was coming over and Cain left, carrying a bottle of whiskey from her kitchen with him, the woman testified.
The woman called police after Cain left and later underwent a sexual assault examination at St. Michael’s Hospital in Texarkana.
Texarkana, Ark., Detective Paul Nall testified that he contacted Frederick Cain via cell phone several days after the alleged rape. The telephone number was obtained by having the alleged victim pull up her cell phone account on a computer at the police department.
Nall said the person he spoke with identified himself as Frederico Cain and provided a date of birth of January 1992. He said the man told him he had ridden from Texarkana to Michigan with a friend days before the alleged assault and denied knowing the woman. The caller did describe himself as having tattoos of a microphone and a treble clef on his neck as described by the alleged victim.
Using the 1992 date of birth and name of Frederico Cain, Nall said he obtained a warrant. Nall testified that it was obviously not the suspect they were looking for when he entered an interview room in November 2014 because the man facing him was far taller and had no neck tattoos.
Nall said that after interviewing Frederico Cain he realized he was really looking for Frederico Cain’s older brother, Frederick Cain, who was born in 1984. Nall said that Frederico Cain was released from custody and given a bus ticket home.
Frederick Cain was arrested in Louisiana in 2015 and extradited to Arkansas in November of that year.
During closing arguments Thursday, Harrelson argued that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that Frederick Cain raped the woman.
Mitchell and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kristian Robertson argued that the testimony of the alleged victim, the testimony of the two friends she called immediately after the alleged assault, the odd phone call, the testimony of the sexual assault nurse, and other supporting witnesses established that the woman is telling the truth.
“(The alleged victim) has waited nearly six years to come in here and tell you what happened the night of Jan. 3rd, 2013,” Mitchell argued. “The only way you can believe him if you believe all of them are lying.”
Robertson pointed out that the alleged victim’s account of the night of Jan. 5, 2013, has remained consistent, noting that she gave the same details to patrol officers, the on-call detective, sexual assault nurse examiner, lead case detective, her friends and lastly to the jury on Wednesday.
“You know why,” Young argued. “Because the truth doesn’t change.”
Deliberations are scheduled to continue Friday morning. If convicted, Cain faces 10 to 40 years or life in prison.
