Attorney: Alleged Cedar Rapids kidnapping victim voluntarily went with suspect

A 32-year-old Cedar Rapids man accused of kidnapping a woman and then sexually assaulting her on an abandoned farm in Alburnett in May was just trying to find a place for the woman to go to the bathroom, his defense attorney told jurors this morning during opening statements in the man's trial.

Patrick Ingram told jurors that his client, Jabari Walker, had met the alleged victim on May 6 at Brother's Bar & Grill in downtown Iowa City, and she voluntarily left with him.

The woman “is not the innocent victim who had no interest in being with Walker that night,” Ingram said. “That doesn't make any sense. This is not someone who got dragged off.”

Walker is being tried this week on suspicion of first-degree kidnapping after police say he drove a 42-year-old woman against her will to an abandoned farm at 3370 Alburnett Road and forced her to perform sexual acts on him in the car and once they arrived.

The woman, who is from Vietnam and has a limited English vocabulary, told investigators she went out that night looking for a friend's birthday party and ended up at Brother's, where she didn't find the party but instead met Walker, Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden said during opening statements.

She agreed to leave the bar with Walker to go get something to eat, Vander Sanden said. But the woman didn't want to get into a car with Walker and two of his friends, so she followed them in her car to a Motel 6 in Coralville, where Walker dropped off his passengers and paid for their hotel room, according to Vander Sanden.

The woman was hesitant to get into Walker's car, Vander Sanden said, but she agreed.

“She knew immediately that she was in trouble and something was up when they went in the wrong direction,” he told jurors.

As they headed toward Cedar Rapids, the woman told detectives she asked Walker to stop and turn around multiple times. He instead locked his car and forced her to perform oral sex on him as he drove, Vander Sanden said. They ended up at an abandoned farm house, where Walker is accused of continuing the sexual abuse, until a uniformed sheriff's deputy pulled up during his routine patrol of the area around 2:30 a.m.

When the deputy arrived, the woman initially ran from the scene before realizing the car belonged to an officer, Vander Sanden said. She told investigators she had been taken to Alburnett against her will.

“(The woman) was distraught and emotional and obviously upset to the point of being incoherent,” Vander Sanden said. “She was scared and crying.”

Vander Sanden said the woman didn't consent to give Walker oral sex.

“She did not consent to go on this trip,” he said.

The deputy's discovery of the pair on the farm provides corroborating evidence, according to Vander Sanden.

“This is not exactly a he-said-she-said thing,” he said.

Ingram, however, said the story that his client tells has similar facts within a different context. Walker said the woman left the bar with him, and they made out in his car for a while, according to Ingram.

Because the woman didn't want to get in the car with all the men, Ingram said, Walker dropped off his friends at a motel. If the pair was only looking for some food, Ingram said, it wouldn't have made sense to pay for a motel room.

“If you are going out to eat and you don't want to sit with two people, put them at another table,” Ingram said. “The only explanation is that (the woman) didn't want to ride in the car with the three of them but was comfortable riding with Jabari up to his place.”

Ingram said the woman voluntarily got into Walker's car and changed her mind about going home with Walker on the way to Cedar Rapids. Walker didn't want to turn around and go back to Iowa City, and an argument ensued, according to Ingram.

Some how, Ingram said, Cedar Falls was mentioned and Walker started heading in that direction before realizing it was farther away than Iowa City. He pulled off the interstate, and the woman then said she had go to the bathroom, he said.

“If he doesn't stop she's going to pee all over,” Ingram said.

That's how they ended up at the abandoned farm, he said.

“Then the story is over,” he said. “That's it.”

The victim is expected to testify during the trial, which could last through the week. Walker also is expected to take the stand in his own defense.