Defense says sex consensual as ‘date rape’ trial begins

A 36-year-old woman told a jury Wednesday it felt like “hitting a wall” after consuming hard-liquor drinks at the home of Spokane businessman Arlin R. Jordin, on trial for “date-rape” drug sex crimes.

The 59-year-old defendant is charged with second-degree rape and indecent liberties for allegedly engaging in sexual contact and intercourse with the woman while she was “physically helpless or mentally incapacitated.”

While only one rape case has been filed, deputy prosecuting attorney John Love told the jury it will hear allegations that Jordin was involved in similar conduct with other women.

Defense attorney Bevan Maxey told the jury the case really is about consenting adults who engage in sex after sharing drinks, then falsely claiming rape.

In his opening remarks, Maxey told the jury that the woman identified in the rape charge willingly went to Jordin’s apartment in November 2004 and drank liquor after contacting him about an apartment for rent.

She awoke the next morning in his bed, “feeling ill, foggy headed and couldn’t remember everything she’d done, and therefore it must be rape.”

“The premise of this case is lack of evidence against my client,” Maxey told the jury.

The woman identified in the rape and indecent liberties charge didn’t call police or even seek medical attention until advised to do so by friends or rape counselors, Maxey told the jury in arguing that the sexual encounter was consensual.

The leadoff witness was one of 45 women who were identified by Spokane police in late 2004 after having contact with Jordin, usually while searching for apartments to rent.

Besides the victim who testified, eight additional women have reported being “raped and drugged by the defendant after hearing of his arrest,” court documents say.

Seven other women told police detectives they believed they were drugged after accepting a drink from Jordin.

The jury won’t hear all their stories or even be told about all them, but the prosecutor told the jury a larger pattern of conduct will emerge.

“The state is going to offer evidence that Mr. Jordin operated under a common scheme or plan,” Love told the jury in his opening statement.

Before the start of the trial, the defense attorney attempted to legally prevent the jury from hearing what happened to other women on the grounds such testimony would be prejudicial.

The court documents identify 15 women who claim they began to feel strange after having drinks with Jordin.

Superior Court Judge Neal Q. Rielly ruled that to prove a “common scheme or plan,” the prosecution can call three other women to detail their personal experiences after meeting Jordin, a former insurance executive who owns rental properties.

The first witness testified that she initially met Jordin at his apartment on West Ninth after responding to a rental ad for a studio apartment.

She accepted his invitation for a margarita at his apartment the first night they met, and she left after a few minutes without incident.

“I just felt he was a friendly landlord,” the witness explained under questioning by the prosecutor.

When Jordin called her back about three weeks later, she had already found a new place to live but accepted his invitation to return to his apartment. There, they finished drinking the margarita mixture he had placed in the freezer.

After having that drink in a one-pint glass, she agreed to have a shot of Jack Daniels whiskey which was her drink of preference, she told the jury. Jordin had a shot, too, with the understanding they both would then have a glass of Jack Daniels on the rocks.

“I don’t remember finishing that drink,” the woman testified. “I just remember hitting the wall suddenly. It just hit me out of nowhere.”

The prosecutor asked, “Were you interested sexually in Mr. Jordin?”

“Absolutely not,” the woman responded.

She said she later remembered Jordin attempting to kiss her and yelling at her when she attempted to rebuff his advance.

She awoke the next morning in his bed, when he “shook me awake” and offered her a glass of orange juice.

She drove home and, at the advice of a friend, sought medical treatment after vomiting several times. An initial hospital test was positive for the presence of Benzodiazipine, a drug that can cause dizziness or render a person unconscious.

But a more exhaustive laboratory test, returned several days later, showed there was no presence of Benzodiazipine in her blood, only alcohol and marijuana she had smoked a few days earlier with other friends.

But the initial test was used by police to obtain a warrant to search Jordin’s apartment where detectives reported finding several prescription drugs that can cause dizziness or unconsciousness if mixed with alcohol.

During a break in the testimony, Jordin, who is free on bond, privately told a reporter that he was glad the time had finally come for the public to hear “the other side of the story.”

But Jordin didn’t have an answer when asked if he would take the stand in his own defense.