New information has emerged about the allegations that led to a felony assault charge being filed against a former top Missouri GOP pol, in connection with a November sexual encounter.
An incident report, taken by police a day and a half after the alleged assault took place, lists three “offenses” alleged against Rod Jetton, who until last year was Speaker of the House: second degree assault, rape, and felonious restraint.
The incident report was obtained by the website Fired Up! Missouri, through sunshine laws, and provided in full to TPMmuckraker.
The police officer who took the report writes that after arriving at the woman’s house in response to a complaint, “I observed red markings and bruising on the left side of [the woman’s] face.”
The report describes how, according to the woman, the encounter came about:
[WOMAN] STATED SHE AND MR. JETTON HAD BEEN FRIENDS FOR SEVERAL YEARS. SHE STATED SHE HAD NOT SEEN OR TALKED TO HIM IN SEVERAL YEARS AND THEY HAD NEVER BEEN IN A RELATIONSHIP. [WOMAN] STATED MR. JETTON HAD BEEN TEXTING HER AND HE WANTED TO STOP BY HER RESIDENCE ON 11/15/2009 ON THE WAY TO DEER CAMP. [WOMAN] STATED SHE AGREED TO LET HIM STOP BY TO VISIT.
Jetton is said to have brought two bottles of wine with him. The two then drank the wine and watched a football game — Jetton filling the woman’s wine glass out of her view. After the game ended, the woman said, Jetton tried to stick his hand up her shirt, but she pushed his hand away. “She stated that she thought Mr. Jetton was playing around.”
After they began watching a movie, “Mr. Jetton attempted to remove her pants and she told him ‘No.'”
Then:
[WOMAN] STATED THE NEXT THING SHE REMEMBERED, SHE WAS ON THE FLOOR IN THE LIVING ROOM AND MR. JETTON WAS TRYING TO RESTRAIN BOTH OF HER HANDS WITH WHAT APPEARED TO BE A LEATHER BELT. SHE STATED SHE WAS VERY GROGGY AND UNABLE TO SPEAK BUT WAS ABLE TO PULL HER HANDS FREE FROM THE RESTRAINT. SHE STATED AT THIS POINT, MR. JETTON BEGAN TO STRIKE HER ON THE LEFT SIDE OF HER FACE WITH AN OPEN HAND. SHE STATED AFTER THE FOURTH BLOW TO THE LEFT SIDE OF HER FACE, SHE BEGAN TO SEE STARS AND BLACKED OUT. [WOMAN] STATED SHE WAS UNSURE HOW MANY TIMES MR. JETTON HAD STRUCK HER AFTER SHE HAD BLACKED OUT.
The woman said that when she came to, Jetton “had one of his hands around her neck and was choking her.” She said that she was too weak and groggy to resist him, and that her hands were restrained with what she took to be a belt.
The report continues:
[WOMAN] STATED AS MR. JETTON CHOKED HER, SHE BLACKED OUT AGAIN. SHE THEN WOKE UP IN HER BED. SHE STATED MR. JETTON WAS HAVING SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH HER. SHE STATED SHE COULD NOT GIVE ANY RESISTANCE DUE TO HER CONDITION. SHE STATED SHE WAS ON HER KNEES IN THE BED AND MR. JETTON WAS BEHIND HER PERFORMING THE SEXUAL ACT. SHE STATED MR. JETTON CONTINUOUSLY SLAPPED HER ON THE OUTSIDE OF HER LEFT LEG AND THE OUTSIDE OF HER RIGHT LEG AS HE HAD SEX WITH HER.
When the woman woke up, she said, she “hurt all over” and her face was “so sore that she was unable yo lay her head on the her pillow.” At the point, says the report, “Jetton kissed her on the mouth and said “‘I told you to say green balloons, as if it was a code word for him to stop.”
From the report:
[WOMAN] STATED DURING THE WHOLE INCIDENT, SHE WAS SCARED FOR HER LIFE. SHE STATED WHEN SHE WAS ABLE TO LOOK AT ALL THE MARKINGS ON HER BODY, SHE OBSERVED THE BRUISING AND SLAP MARKS ON THE LEFT SIDE OF HER FACE. SHE ALSO HAD SEVERE PAIN TO HER LEFT JAW. SHE WAS HAVING TROUBLE OPENING AND LOOKING OUT OF HER LEFT EYE. HER LEFT EAR HAD SEVERE PAIN AND BRUISING INSIDE AND OUT. [WOMAN] ALSO OBSERVED BRUISING ON HER LEFT BREAST. THERE WAS ALSO BRUISING ON THE INSIDE OF HER LEFT AND RIGHT LEG. HER RIGHT ANKLE WAS SORE AND HAD SWELLING. SHE ALSO OBSERVED BRUISING ON THE OUTSIDE OF HER LEFT AND RIGHT LEG FROM MR. JETTON SLAPPING HER AS HE SEXUAL ASSAULTED HER.
Later at the hospital, the police officer observed the woman’s injuries:
I OBSERVED MARKINGS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF [WOMAN’S] FACE. I ALSO OBSERVED WHAT APPEARED TO BE A HAND PRINT ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HER FACE. I OBSERVED BRUISING ON HER LEFT EAR. THERE WAS ALSO A HAND PRINT ON HER NECK WHERE MR. JETTON HAD CHOKED HER. I OBSERVED THE BRUISING AND RED MARKS ON THE OUTSIDE OF BOTH OF HER LEGS AT HER BUTTOCKS. I ALSO OBSERVED THE BRUISING TO THE INSIDE OF BOTH OF HER LEGS. THERE WAS SWELLING AND TENDERNOUS (SIC) TO HER RIGHT ANKLE. I ALSO OBSERVED BRUISING ON THE LEFT SIDE OF HER LEFT BREAST.
In sum, the incident report describes a much more violent and brutal encounter than does the probable cause document. And it suggests that there was no consent, at any point, to sex of any kind.
The incident report and the probable cause document contain some variations.
The only mention of a safe word in the incident report comes near the end. It states that in the morning, “she remembered Mr. Jetton telling her, “I told you to say green balloons,” as if it was a code word for him to stop.” As we noted Tuesday, the probable cause document states that “Mr. Jetton and [the woman] agreed on a safe word of “Green balloons” to use as a stop word during intercourse. Later, it states that in the morning, Mr. Jetton told the woman: “You should have said green balloons.”
In addition, the incident report conveys the impression that the woman was surprised from the start by Jetton’s advances, stating that she resisted his attempt to put his hand up her shirt, thinking that he “was playing around.” By contrast, the probable cause statement refers to the two having spoken earlier in the day about having sex, and having agreed that night on a safe word.
A receptionist at the county prosecutor’s office declined to let us speak with anyone about the case.
