Rape trial begins for trainer
Posted on Wednesday, July 9, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/66954/
Three women testified on Tuesday they were sexually assaulted by a fitness trainer at his now defunct Bodies for Christ Training Centers in Springdale and Van Buren.
James Soloman, 38, is on trial before a Washington County jury of eight women and four men on charges of rape and failure to appear. His two-day trial resumes today with closing arguments.
Soloman also faces a charge of failure to appear and two counts of seconddegree sexual assault in Crawford County. He did not show for a trial on March 6, and a new trial date has not been set, according to a deputy court clerk.
Soloman’s attorneys tried unsuccessfully in pretrial motions to prevent the two accusers in the Crawford County case from testifying in this week’s trial. Both of witnesses testified Tuesday that he touched them inappropriately outside their clothes, but that he stopped his sexual advances when
they asked him to.
One of these witnesses blurted out an unprompted comment that 4 th Judicial Circuit Judge Kim Smith told the jury to disregard.
“ I would not have went in the first place unless I knew he was a Christian, ” said a 35-yearold accuser from Fort Smith.
Deputy Prosecutor Charles Duell told the jury Soloman tried to build trust with women he did not know by telling them he was a professional bodybuilder who could help them. He lured them into his business for seemingly legitimate reasons and then sexually assaulted them, Duell said during opening remarks.
“ This case is about buyer’s remorse, ” public defender Scott Parks told the jury during opening remarks. “ Her story just does not add up. ”
The accuser came forward three months later after she told her new boyfriend about the sexual encounter. Her boyfriend arranged the meeting with police and sat in on her interview with Springdale police, according to witnesses. Parks said his client admits the two had sex, but he said it was consensual and happened while they were both separated from their spouses. Soloman did not testify so the jury did not hear that he faces federal prison time for violating conditions of his probation on federal drug charges out of the Eastern District of Oklahoma. The jury heard references to testimony from a hearing in Fort Smith, but they did not hear that it was a probation revocation hearing. A U. S. marshal testified that he arrested Soloman in Los Angeles after Soloman failed to appear in court. The marshal said Soloman had changed his appearance and assumed a new identity when authorities tracked him down in California. A computer at the house of Soloman’s mother contained evidence that Soloman had visited Web sites that told him how to create a new identity, the marshal testified.
Rape accuser testifies The accuser in the rape case, a 25-year-old Bentonville woman, testified that she met Soloman while shopping at a Wal-Mart during her lunch break. He saw her T-shirt with the logo from another gym, and she told him she worked there. He said he was opening several gyms, needed staff and he gave her his card, she testified. “ I thought, ‘ Why not ? ’ Thought maybe it would be a good opportunity, ” she testified. She called him and set up an appointment for a job interview at 5 p. m. Feb. 12. During the interview, he asked her how old she was and if she was married, which she testified that she thought was inappropriate, but she answered anyway. They then went into another room where he first showed her some exercise and then “ threw himself on top of me and raped me, ” she testified. She said she told him to stop and tried to fight him, but he held her down and forced himself on her. She testified that when he went to the restroom, she grabbed her purse from the interview room, unlocked the front door and left in her car. He followed her to the car and made a crude remark about how all men want to be with her and now he has, she said. “ I felt dirty and disgusting and stupid because I went there thinking it was a job interview, ” she testified while sobbing. “ I tried to forget it and block it out and pretend it did not happen. ” She first told her boyfriend and later told a counselor about the incident, she said.
Cross-examination Public defender Julie Tolleson pointed out inconsistencies in the accuser’s testimony Tuesday and her previous statements to police and in the hearing. These include the number of times she said the defendant called her after the incident, whether she screamed during the rape and whether she unlocked the door. Tolleson questioned whether the visit to the gym was a job interview. The accuser testified she did not fill out a job application, submit a resume or list of references, and was wearing gym clothes for the interview. She testified that Soloman did not threaten her or ask her not to tell police. The accuser testified that she noticed Soloman was wearing a condom but said under cross-examination she did not know when he put it on. A Springdale detective and the accuser testified that the detective suggested to her that the defendant may have already been wearing the condom when she arrived at the gym. She testified that Soloman was wearing tight-fitting shorts, but she said under cross-examination that he did not have an erection during the interview before the rape. Cousin testifies Soloman’s cousin, Donna Barnes of Cameron, Okla., testified that she and Soloman’s mother stopped by the gym in Springdale on the day of the alleged assault. When she walked into the unlocked building, she testified, she heard moans and groans and a woman say: “ That feels good. ” She testified that she left the building and told his mother: ”Let’s wait a few minutes. He’s kind of busy. ” Barnes said she saw Soloman and his accuser hugging and kissing in the parking lot before the accuser drove away. Barnes admitted under cross-examination that she first told this story during the revocation hearing and that she did not tell it to Springdale police.
Other accusers The 35-year-old accuser said Soloman met her and offered to fix her up with a cheap car after noticing her tags were expired on her car. She said she went to his gym in Van Buren to talk about financing a car when he climbed on top of her while he had an erection. He told her he could not finance the car unless she agreed to have sex, she testified. Under cross-examination, she said she called him 21 times after the alleged assault because she needed a car. She said under cross-examination that she took off her gym shorts, but not her panties, after he took off his shorts and partially exposed himself to her. The alleged assault occurred in February 2006, and the accuser reported it to police in June 2007 after hearing media reports about his other arrests, she testified. Another accuser said Soloman set up a meeting for a job interview in Van Buren and during the interview he first touched the top of her private parts with his fingers in an inappropriate manner. She testified that he said, “ This is something I will call massage therapy, ” and later said, “ I hope you don’t think of me as a pervert or anything. ”