Editor’s Note: The individual’s name has been redacted and his initials used instead due to the nature of the accusations and the dismissal of those charges.
This article has been updated to refer to Freedom’s Landing student housing complex as a ‘dorm’ instead of an ‘apartment.’
Prosecutors dismissed a rape case last week due to concerns over the ability to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
20-year-old TMM was arrested by the Georgia Southern Police Department in February 2023 on charges of Rape, Sexual Battery, and Aggravated Assault following allegations that he forced himself on a fellow student a week prior.
Background
Court records indicate that the accuser, AM, and TMM. met on a dating app in January 2023 before they spent roughly twelve hours together on February 1. AM arrived at TMM’s dorm – a gated student housing property on campus- around midnight, they left the dorm together at 3:00 a.m. to go to the gym, returned around 3:45 a.m., and returned to the dorm until approximately noon. At that time, TMM drove her back to her vehicle at the dorm leasing office.
TMM was interviewed by police on February 1 and was arrested on February 7. He was held without bond until April 4. The process to request bond was delayed significantly due to the fact that Georgia Southern PD did not file the warrants in the clerk’s office for seventeen days after TMM was arrested, which meant his attorney could not file an entry of appearance and request a bond hearing before a judge. TMM remained behind bars without any case movement.
During the eventual bond hearing, a Georgia Southern police officer testified that TMM took AM back to his dorm instead of taking her to her car outside of the student housing complex.
“He opened the door, walked in, and he turned around and looked at her, and she was just standing there. And he said, are you gonna come in or not? So, she felt like she had to walk in, so she walked in and walked back there into his bedroom…,” the officer testified.
On cross examination, defense attorney Natalie Greene asked if the officer was aware that the pair stopped at AM’s vehicle to leave her shoes in her car before going to TMM’s dorm. The officer said he was not aware of that.
The officer was also asked if he interviewed any of the other roommates who were home between midnight and noon on February 1, to which he said he did not feel it was necessary because “she didn’t say that she made some big noise…I felt it was unnecessary to involve them into Mr. (TMM’s) business at that point.”
Under then-Distirct Attorney Daphne Totten, then-ADA Barclay Black opposed bond for TMM. Defense counsel argued that TMM was out of town when he learned he would be charged and willingly returned to Bulloch County to turn himself in, but Black said TMM was a flight risk and could intimidate witnesses if released.
“Our objection to bond in this case would be that he is from another county up in the Atlanta area is my understanding, and so we think that creates an issue,” Black said.
Judge Ronald Thompson set a $25,000 bond in April, barred TMM from discussing the case on social media, and ordered him to stay at his mother’s house in metro Atlanta. As a condition of his pretrial release, TMM was also ordered to continue working and taking online courses.
A month later, Totten presented the case to a grand jury and a True Bill of Indictment was returned with additional charges and, subsequently, enhanced penalties. The grand jury indicted TMM on charges of Rape, Aggravated Sexual Battery, Aggravated Assault, and False Imprisonment. Totten’s office offered TMM a plea deal: plead guilty and serve thirty years in prison.
In October 2023, Natalie Greene, attorney for TMM, filed a Brady Motion, asking the court to compel the state to comply with discovery. She wrote in her motion that the District Attorney’s Office had not provided integral evidence requested by the defense on ‘several occasions,’ including camera footage from the dorm, a recorded interview with the accuser, photos taken by the accuser at her residence, and other similar files.
Dismissal
The case continued to move slowly over the next year and was eventually scheduled for a bench trial not long after the swearing in of newly-elected District Attorney Robert Busbee. Attorneys were preparing for the non-jury trial before a judge on May 29 and May 30 when the case was dismissed by the District Attorney’s Office.
After the case was nolle prossed, the district attorney’s office said there were concerns over whether or not the case would be proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
In a statement to TheGeorgiaVirtue.com, Busbee said, “To win a criminal case, you must be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. The fact that we would not be able to meet that in this case should not be an indication of disbelief of the victim, but recognition of the state of reality of the evidence.” A spokesperson for the office said Chief ADA Jillian Gibson and Busbee consulted on the case extensively.
TheGeorgiaVirtue.com also reached out to defense counsel after the dismissal. Greene said emphatically that their position has been the same for two years and three months: TMM is innocent.
“Under the previous administration, it was revealed that there was a flawed investigation, a lack of preservation of crucial evidence, several constitutional violations, and a litany of lies from the accuser,” Greene said. “We are thankful for Judge Thompson’s reasonable care from the start of the case and for the staff under the new administration. DA Busbee took the time to assess the case – something the previous administration would not do – and ultimately dismissed all of the charges.”
This isn’t the first blow dealt to the Georgia Southern Police Department regarding their investigations. Last month, five individuals were arrested for a supposed armed robbery on campus. In the case of at least one of the individuals arrested, the charges were dismissed immediately upon reaching the district attorney’s office due to a lack of sufficient evidence to prosecute.
