PROSECUTOR WISHES RAPIST WELL

By James H. Lilley

Eugene A. Marriott raped, sodomized and brutally beat a woman outside a Best Western Motel in Fairfax City on January 14, 2006. He was pulling up his pants, with the woman still lying at his feet, when police arrived and arrested him. An eyewitness to the crime said he was in an adjacent parking lot and saw Marriott standing over top of the woman and, “just pounding away on her.” He yelled at Marriott, but he continued his attack on the woman.

Marriott, who is married, is also a minister in The Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church in Fort Washington. After his arrest he told detectives investigating the case that he’d dated the woman and what happened on January 14th was simply a matter of their sadomasochistic role-playing. The woman, however, told detectives they’d broken up weeks earlier. But, during the course of his interview with police he admitted that even if it had been role-playing that what he did that night was wrong.

Marriott entered a plea to charges of abduction with intent to defile and unlawful wounding, with the abduction with intent charge carrying a minimum sentence of 20 years. With his agreement to plead to those charges, prosecutors dismissed the rape and sodomy counts. But during trial proceedings prosecutors amended the charges to simple adduction, which carried no minimum sentence and a maximum of 10 years. They also added two misdemeanor sexual battery charges, to which Marriott agreed to plead guilty.

By pleading guilty to the two misdemeanor charges he escaped having to register as a sex offender, which would have been required by the “intent to defile” charge.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Toni Fay presented the case and said that what happened that night was criminal behavior, and showed photos of the victim to Circuit Court Judge Stanley Klein. Pictures offered into evidence showed that the victim had sustained cuts and bruises over her body from her lower legs to the top of her head. The victim said that she’d been beaten with fists and a belt buckle, raped and sexually assaulted. But, according to the Washington Post, Fay concluded her case by saying, “I wish Mr. Marriott well. I hope that his wife takes him back. I am very glad to see his church and his community are still supporting him.”

I’m surprised that she didn’t invite him out for dinner and drinks. Perhaps I missed something in the translation of all of this, but I was under the impression that Eugene A. Marriott was the accused in this instance, not the victim. Yet, it seems that the Fairfax County Prosecutor’s Office, or at least Toni Fay, went out of her way to assist him in eluding prosecution for the most serious crimes.

Marriott’s capacity as a minister at the Ebenezer AME Church doesn’t entitle him to preferential treatment when he stands accused of a serious crime, or any crime for that matter. He said he was sorry, but showed no emotion when he apologized. He went on to say that he’d lost everything he’d worked his whole life for, but continued to have the support of his church and his wife. The victim admitted she had dated him for about three months and their break up had been amicable. Although the victim dated her attacker for a time and agreed to meet him to go dancing on the night of the attack, it doesn’t qualify him for leniency. Indeed the court saw otherwise and sentenced him to only 16 months for his crimes immediately after sentencing two burglars to 18 and 20 months in prison. First, the prosecutor slaps the victim across the face by wishing her attacker well, and then the court puts its stamp of approval on the slap with a kick in the stomach and a sentence of only 16 months for a violent crime. Yet, Judge Klein said Marriott’s behavior wouldn’t be tolerated.

I don’t understand how a brutal beating and rape warrants less time in prison than a property crime. What was the court saying not only to the victim in this case, but also to the thousands of victims of rape and sexual assault across the country? Was the court sending a message that forcibly violating a woman’s body will get a suspect less jail time than a break in of a home or business?

Like it or not, there are many times when there is no real justice for the victim in the judicial system. But in this case far more went on behind the scenes than anyone was aware of. Toni Fay reduced the charges without consulting with the victim, the detective who investigated the allegations or her boss, Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert F. Horan.

The victim had already agreed with a deal struck by the prosecutor that Marriott would plead guilty to abduction with intent to defile and should have been consulted by Fay prior to any change in that deal. According to Mr. Horan, and anyone familiar with the justice system knows contacting the victim regarding any changes to the agreement is rule number one. Horan said the original plea agreement made sense and that lawyers who have defended accused rapists agreed, as did the victim in this instance.

Some time before the hearing, Marriott’s attorney, Bobby Stafford, contacted Fay and told her that Marriott did not want to have to register as a sex offender, which would have been required under the “intent to defile” charge. Fay was then in touch with Judge Klein, telling him that she and Stafford had been in contact to resolve the matter, but without informing him of just what that matter was. But at the time of sentencing neither the judge nor the attorneys made mention of the fact that the charges had been altered.

The 35-year-old victim in this case said she was shocked to learn that the charges had been reduced without notifying her, and was further angered by the lenient sentence. Her outrage was supported by May Lou Leary, executive director of the National Center for Victims of Crime. Leary said that when offenders are allowed to avoid responsibility for their crimes it has an effect on all victims, and especially victims of sex crimes. Sexual assault is a violent crime that is about domination and control of the victim, and what happened in this case reinforces that.

In some ways Judge Klein’s hands were tied when he sentenced Marriott, but if he wanted to give the victim some measure of satisfaction and justice he had options available to him. At sentencing he ordered Marriott to serve four years on each of the abduction and unlawful wounding counts, but then suspended all but 16 months of the terms. He then passed six-month sentences down on the two sexual battery counts and ordered all time to be served concurrently. If he so desired, he could have ordered those sentences to be served consecutively in lieu of concurrently and Marriott would have been given at least nine years behind bars. Still, even the nine years would have been a far cry from the minimum of 20 demanded by the abduction with intent to defile charge.

There was a grave miscarriage of justice in this case and another black eye for the judicial system as a whole. Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Horan, who has always seemed to be a cut above when it came to fairness throughout the judicial process, is now faced with having to conduct damage control to repair the harm done to the reputation of his office.

Still, what happened in this case leaves me, and I’m certain hundreds of others, wondering just went on behind the scenes to cause such a lucrative deal to be struck. The flag of suspicion should be waving, and rightly so, because of the actions of Defense Attorney Bobby Stafford and Commonwealth’s Attorney Toni Fay. There are many questions in this case and I’m certain that Mr. Horan will live up to his reputation for fairness and honesty and demand the answers. Unfortunately, the damage has already been done to Mr. Horan’s office and not only the victim in this case, but also the countless other victims across the country have been slapped in the face.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James H. Lilley is a former Marine and Police Sergeant with the Howard County Police Department (Maryland). He worked in the Uniformed Patrol Division, criminal Investigations Division, Forensic Services (CSI) and Drug Enforcement Division. His Street Drug Unit was featured in the book "Undercover" by Hans Halberstadt and published by Simon and Schuster. Some of his awards include The Medal of Valor, Four Bronze Stars, Four Unit Citations and the Governor's Citation. He is also an 8th Degree Black Belt in Shorin Ryu Karate and the first American to be promoted to the rank of Black Belt by Mr. Takeshi Miyagi. James H. Lilley is the author of six books: A Question of Honor; The Eyes of the Hunter; The Far Side of the Bridge; Just Retribution; A Miracle for Tony Clements; and, Death Knocks Twice.

MORE ABOUT JAMES H. LILLEY
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