The ex-Atlanta police officer accused of raping a massage therapist was on-duty at the time, and later returned to the scene after she called 911, even jumping in the ambulance with her, an investigator testified on Monday.
Fulton County Magistrate Judge Todd Ashley ruled there was enough evidence for the case to proceed, but not before questioning the victim’s credibility, saying that former officer Muhammad Muhammad’s defense team had raised doubts about whether the encounter had been consensual.
Muhammad appeared in court wearing a blue jail jumpsuit, his hands shackled at the waist. He has been held without bond since his arrest last month at police headquarters.
Atlanta Detective Anthony Blair told the judge that Muhammad was on duty when he allegedly forced himself on the massage therapist during an appointment at the now-fired officer’s mostly empty apartment.
The lead investigator also said when the woman called 911 from the parking lot that night, Muhammad heard the dispatch over the radio and promptly returned to the scene. The officer’s body camera footage showed he even got into the ambulance with the his alleged victim, Blair testified, causing the woman to become visibly distraught.
“She screams out ‘rapist’. She’s cursing, she’s belligerent, she’s crying. She’s really upset,” Blair testified, saying paramedics had to strap the woman to the gurney before taking her to the hospital.
Three days later, she returned to police headquarters to file a formal complaint against the officer, prompting the investigation that led to Muhammad’s arrest and firing last month.
Blair said Muhammad willingly provided a statement to investigators in which he acknowledged having sex with the woman while on the job, but insisted the June 5 encounter was consensual.
Blair said the two had met about a week earlier at a hotel where Muhammad was working a part-time security job.
Police said previously that Muhammad had paid the woman for the massage before sexually assaulting her and stealing back the money at gunpoint. But authorities said Monday the officer later returned the $160 he had given the woman.
Muhammad’s attorney, Brian Tevis, argued the massage therapist provided inconsistent statements to police. She previously said Muhammad hit her with his gun, but there were no visible injuries to support that, he said, and even investigators doubted those allegations.
“Nobody believed that for a second,” said Tevis, who also brought up the woman’s history of mental illness.
Fulton County prosecutor Siri Patel said Muhammad’s gun was removed from its holster at some point, causing the camera on the officer’s car to begin recording. The body camera on his uniform had been turned off so it wasn’t activated, Blair told the judge.
Tevis said the woman arrived at his client’s apartment without a massage table, something he found strange.
“It also makes no sense for someone who approached Mr. Muhammad for massage services to arrive with no table,” Tevis said, questioning why a police officer would sexually assault someone who knew exactly where he lived and worked.
Ashley also expressed reservations about what the masseuse reportedly told police days after she was allegedly assaulted and held at gunpoint.
“I’m aware that Georgia law provides the statement of a single witness is enough to establish a fact,” the judge said. “But what if it’s misperceived or misconstrued or confused with another fact or another event?”
The judge took more than an hour to make his ruling before deciding the officer’s conduct that night raised suspicions.
“There doesn’t appear to be a whole lotta dispute about sex being had,” Ashley told attorneys.
But he questioned why Muhammad was the first police officer on the scene that night and why he felt compelled to jump into the back of the ambulance with the woman.
“Why would you be the first one back without a dispatch?” the judge asked. “Why would one do that? Maybe to see what somebody was going to say.”
Muhammad remains held without bond.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
