Just a few days after former IU student John Enochs was sentenced to one-year probation for battery and had two rape charges dismissed, Monroe County Prosecutor Bob Miller showed frustration regarding the case.
He released a statement that expressed the lack of evidence to prove Enochs guilty of both rape charges issued in September 2015.
“This turn of events was frustrating for us as prosecutors due to the fact that there were two complaints against the defendant,” Miller said in the statement. “That fact is the reason we continued to pursue accountability on his part which led to this plea agreement.”
One of the first problems the prosecutors ran into was the two rape cases were unrelated, which meant they would have to be tried and heard by separate juries.
In the older case, from 2013, the alleged victim had no memory of the events because of alcohol consumption and Enochs’ attorney Katharine Liell argued any testimony the alleged victim gave would be hearsay based on stories the complaining witness had been told.
Enochs and the alleged victim met each other before the night of the alleged rape.
One of the witnesses in the case, who is identified as the alleged victim’s friend, said the two might have even made out, but nothing further.
Additionally, the few witnesses of the 2013 case could not completely recall the events of the case because of alcohol consumption the night of alleged events and with the complaint coming two years after the report was made.
One witness admitted in her deposition that her statement saying she saw Enochs and the alleged victim having sex was speculation because she did not actually see his penis enter her vagina.
Also, the prosecutor’s case struggled when photos posted on Instagram of the alleged victim and Enochs minutes before the alleged rape happened were discovered.
These photos contradicted the complaining witnesses’ story she was unable to engage in consensual activity because of alcohol consumption.
The alleged victim of this case has also filed a civil tort against Delta Tau Delta and Enochs that has not yet been decided.
The later case from 2015 also had problems finding enough evidence to go to trial.
Video evidence from this case of Enochs and the alleged victim entering a room together before and after the alleged assault at the Delta Tau Delta fraternity house does not support the forcible rape assertion, Miller said in the statement.
The video shows her leaving the room 24 minutes later by herself.
Three minutes after, the video shows the alleged victim embracing another man and the two appear to be kissing, according to court records.
Finally, the alleged victim is seen entering the bathroom with another man and several other individuals are seen entering and leaving the bathroom while she is in there.
There was also DNA evidence that made it impossible for prosecutors to prove the defendant was the cause of the alleged victim’s injury, Miller said in the statement.
“After the case(s) was filed, evidence continued to be developed that led us to the conclusion that neither case, standing alone, presented sufficient evidence to prove rape,” Miller said in the statement.
