The Akron Legal News

Court rejects appeal from man who raped, kidnapped former co-worker

JESSICA SHAMBAUGH
Special to the Legal News
Published: April 4, 2014

In an opinion released recently, the 10th District Court of Appeals affirmed a man’s rape and kidnapping convictions based on his attack of a former co-worker.

Rickey Dye appealed his convictions from the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas saying they were against the manifest weight and sufficiency of the evidence.

The facts of the case state Dye and the alleged victim, 65-year-old Janice Beight, were co-workers at a homeless shelter for women in 2011 and 2012.

Beight admitted that the two never got along well and claimed that Dye had made lewd remarks to her of a sexual nature on multiple occasions.

In December 2011, Dye called Beight at home and accused her of stealing a gift bag donated to the shelter residence.

Shortly after that call Beight emailed her supervisor and reported lewd comments Dye made to her earlier that month. Dye was fired as a result of the complaint.

At a jury trial, Beight testified that on the night of Feb. 2, 2012 Dye showed up on her doorstep as she was leaving her apartment.

She said he forced his way into her apartment, pushed her against a door, ripped her purse from her hands and ordered her to sit down.

Dye then proceeded to berate her for making the sexual harassment complaint that caused him to lose his job and his wife. He said he lacked money and a place to live and was sleeping in his car.

“Beight told the jury that she became frightened when appellant shouted ‘I have nothing to lose,’” case summary states.

Eventually, Beight offered Dye $80 she had in the apartment.

She said he followed her down the hallway while she retrieved the money.

After she handed it over, however, she said he forced her into a bedroom and threatened her with a wallpaper cutter, ordering her to disrobe and get on the bed.

According to trial testimony, he then used her scarf to strangle her as he raped her.

When he eventually stopped the assault, Beight said he allowed her to use an inhaler while he cut up her bedsheet with the wallpaper cutter.

He used strips of the sheet to bind her hands and feet and struck her in the face before leaving the apartment.

Despite having a bloody nose, Beight was able to free her hands but was unable to remove the bindings on her ankles.

Exhausted, she eventually passed out and resumed the struggle in the morning. It was then that she was able to free her ankles and report the crime.

Beight was transported to a local hospital where the attending physician found dried blood in her nostrils, a bruise on her forehead and multiple bruises on her wrists and ankles.

A rape kit failed to detect the presence of semen despite the fact that Beight said she believed Dye ejaculated during the attack.

Dye was charged with aggravated burglary, rape, kidnapping and abduction.

The jury found him guilty of all counts and the trial court found him guilty of a repeat violent offender specification.

The court sentenced him to 28 years in prison and he directly appealed to the 10th District.

Dye argued that Beight’s testimony was “so unworthy of belief that it is legally insufficient” to convict him.

Specifically, he claimed that Beight had reason to lie because her job was in jeopardy when he accused her of taking a gift basket.

During her testimony, Beight admitted that she had been disciplined for taking four cookies and six candy bars from her job in the past but stated that they were honest mistakes.

She also asserted that her job was not in jeopardy when she reported Dye’s lewd comments.

Dye also claimed that Beight’s testimony was undermined by the evidence because police did not recover male DNA from the scene or the rape kit.

The judges, however, disagreed. They found that male DNA was found in a vaginal swab, but the donor was unable to be identified.

“In short, while appellant is correct in his assertion that DNA testing of the vaginal swab failed to implicate him in the crime, he is mistaken in his claim that the test ruled out the presence of male DNA,” Judge John Connor wrote for the court.

The judges further determined that the physical evidence supported Beight’s claim that she was tied up, raped and beaten.

“Our review of the totality of the evidence leaves us with little doubt that Beight was the victim of a violent attack at her apartment on Feb. 2, 2012, and that the assailant left her tied up and badly beaten,” JudgeConnor stated.

Based on those findings, the judges ruled the evidence was proper to convict Dye.

Dye next argued that the nurse who completed Beight’s rape kit was improperly allowed to testify that Beight’s case was one of the worst she had heard and that it emotionally bothered her.

The judges determined that the nurse’s testimony did not attest to Beight’s credibility.

Instead, they found that it verified that she remembered the case despite having interviewed more than 150 victims of sexual assault.

“Similarly, while nurse Duke’s opinion regarding the relative severity of the crimes had the potential of eliciting sympathy for Beight, her testimony does not necessarily implicate appellant,” Judge Connor wrote.

“In short, as noted above, there was ample physical evidence to support Beight’s account of the crimes. Consequently, the admission of nurse Duke’s comment had no effect on the outcome of the case and any error with respect to the admission of such a comment was clearly harmless to the proceedings.”

Presiding Judge Lisa Sadler and Judge Gary Tyack concurred and affirmed the lower court’s ruling.

The case is cited State v. Dye, 2014-Ohio-1067.

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