THE TUCK TRIAL: Day 2: "I said 'no.' I said 'stop.'"
By Troy Torres
The woman who accused Jon Tuck of raping her finished her testimony this morning, describing the alleged rape in painstaking detail to both the prosecutor and defense attorney. The jury heard from the doctor, who examined the woman hours after the alleged rape happened. And only one witness remains to testify - for the defense - in the trial that resumes at 1 p.m. Thursday before Judge Maria Cenzon.
The second day of Jon Tuck's rape trial began where yesterday's proceedings ended: with his accuser taking the stand to talk about the rape itself. Tuesday afternoon Judge Cenzon granted the woman leave and excused the jury after the woman broke into tears. She had been answering prosecutor Richelle Canto's questions about the events leading up to the alleged rape.
She had described how they met at a restaurant near the Westin Hotel...
How he took her hand to follow him outside "to smoke"...
How they walked to a secluded area near a chapel...
"He proceeded to take off all my clothes," she managed to say before breaking down in tears late Tuesday on the witness stand.
Today she kept her composure as she continued her story:
"He picked me up and leaned me against the wall. He used his fingers to go into my vagina. He noticed there was a tampon inside me, so he took it out and threw it in the bushes. There was a condom, then he proceeded to put his penis inside my vagina."
She said the penetration lasted about five to seven minutes; the total incident at the crime scene, she said, lasted from 10 to 15 minutes.
Ms. Canto asked her whether she ever said 'no' to him, or asked him to stop.
"About three times I said 'no,'" she said. "I said 'stop.'"
The woman, who described herself as 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing 93 pounds said she could not push Mr. Tuck off her. "At that point I was up against the wall, so it was hard to."
After the alleged rape, she said Tuck put his penis back in his pants as she clothed herself, at which point she noticed the condom on him again. She said she followed him as he began to walk away because she didn't know how to get back to Jardee's, the restaurant they came from. As they were walking and according to her account, he said to her, "No one can know about this because of my work." At the time, she said, she didn't know what work that was.
She told the jury she did not know he was a popular figure on Guam at the time of the alleged rape, and that she was only made aware of that after she told friends and the police about the crime.
When they arrived at Jardee's, the woman told her friend what happened and described Mr. Tuck to her friend. Her friend said she knew Mr. Tuck and that she would confront him. The prosecutor entered into evidence and played a short video depicting the confrontation between the woman's friend and Mr. Tuck, where he is heard admitting to consensual sex with the woman. The woman told the jury she was the one who recorded the confrontation on her phone; she also provided the video to police.
Ms. Canto asked her whether she is suing Mr. Tuck for money, or whether she has asked or demanded money from him. She said no to both questions, but said she didn't know whether she would sue him in the future.
Tuck's attorney, Randy Cunliffe, cross examined the woman, trying to point out inconsistencies between her testimony and the report issued by police last year in the case, or statements given by witnesses. Except for a clarification on when the woman noticed the condom on Mr. Tuck, her testimony never substantively changed.
The rape kit
Following the alleged rape and the confrontation that ensued at Jardee's on March 4, 2020, the woman went to police and gave both an oral and written statement. She then was referred to the Healing Hearts Crisis Center, to be seen as a patient of Dr. William Weare and for a rape kit to be performed on her.
"They took pictures and used a probe to examine my insides," she told the jury.
Dr. Weare testified after the woman, and told the jury, "She reported being assaulted physically. There was digital penetration of both the vagina and the rectum, and penile penetration of the vagina." His statements match her version of events.
Ms. Canto, the prosecutor, entered into evidence and presented Exhibit 3H to Dr. Weare and the jury, purportedly pointing to areas of the woman's vaginal and rectal barriers in the picture.
"There was a mild abrasion of the posterior fourchette, about one centimeter square," Dr. Weare said, responding to Ms. Canto's question about a note he had made on the picture.
According to the World Health Organization, "The posterior fourchette is the point where the labia minora meet posteriorly and fuse together. It is only present after puberty, though this term is often applied, albeit incorrectly, to pre-pubescent girls."
He said the causes of the abrasion could be "anything that irritates (inaudible). In this case the history was penetration as well as discomfort following it."
Dr. Weare did not find any other bruising when he conducted a "head to toe" exam of the woman. He collected samples from her skin, mouth, ears, vagina, and rectal cavity, and sent those samples to the local crime lab for further analysis.
On cross examination, Dr. Weare said there was nothing to indicate how the redness, or abrasion, occurred. He testified that the woman told him during the exam that she was unsure if Mr. Tuck had worn a condom during the intercourse. He also said that in the examination of her vagina, he found "no positive findings, no tears, no bleeding."
"It's possible that other things might have caused this (mild abrasion," he told the jury. "In this case, there were fundings, but I cannot say they were diagnostic."
Woman fears for her safety on Guam
Ms. Canto asked the woman when and why she left Guam.
"About two to three days after," she replied timidly. "I did my testing at Healing Hearts and met with police and spent all my savings on a ticket back home."
"Why did you spend all your savings on a ticket home," Ms. Canto asked her.
"Because I didn't want to be in Guam anymore."
"Why didn't you want to be in Guam anymore," the prosecutor closed.
"Because I didn't feel safe or comfortable here."
The prosecution has rested in case in chief. Mr. Cunliffe will call only one witness to the stand for the defense's case in chief: the police officer who took the woman's report.
The trial resumes at 1 p.m. Thursday, with closing arguments anticipated to happen Friday.
