Did White Girl set up Jonathan Magwood in rape?

By CELESTE M. HART

UPDATE: The Cuyahoga County Conviction Integrity Unit reviewed Magwood’s case and concluded he lacked credibility, a victim centered investigation, she, the white girl is declared more credible.

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Michael Donnelly, a liaison to the newly created Ohio Task Force on Conviction Integrity and Post Conviction Review, said the ‘idea is to get to the truth of the matter,’ according to a newspaper article. Yet, Donnelly, as a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge, not much common sense was utilized in the victim centered case of Jonathan Magwood. Advised by his defense attorney, Ralph DeFranco, Magwood went for a Donnelly bench trial. Magwood said via a phone call from prison, that his lawyer tricked him.

“I would not take a plea. I made it known to the judge that I am innocent. Why would I throw my life away?” said Magwood.

“Our goals are to devise and implement processes that will help prevent wrongful convictions in the first place and provide an efficient and transparent remedy when it occurs in the future,” said Donnelly, according to Court News Ohio article.

Donnelly should look at his own past case of Tabitha Johnson, a white girl, claimed Magwood, a Black guy, raped her in the extremely small restroom at the Taco Bell, in the plaza at West 110th and Lorain Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, at about 1:30 p.m, on August 10, 2016. An assistant manager said the thin bathroom wall is so close to the employees work stations that they can hear everything and at lunch time, the place is packed. Magwood sold music CDs daily at the plaza where Johnson approached him, he said, for a sexual favor. Ten days before the encounter, Johnson posted this on social media:

Hospital Examination revealed evidence of semen on Johnson’s face, by her left eye, her upper and lower lips, and on the left and right sides of her nose, but not anywhere else although she claimed he forcibly entered her vaginally and anally. The video, used in the trial, was edited to only include Magwood entering the restroom where he says the encounter lasted under 10 minutes. Magwood said Johnson let him in the restroom and the entire video would prove his version of events, not the edited version shown in court.

According to Johnson, Magwood forced his way into the bathroom and a rape occurred. DNA evidence confirmed that Magwood and Johnson engaged in sexual conduct. Magwood’s defense throughout the trial was the oral sex was consensual and neither vaginal or anal sex occurred, as the DNA proved.

Magwood, found guilty of three rape counts, a kidnapping and a petty theft, was sentenced to 22 years by Donnelly. Magwood filed a petition for post conviction relief in 2018 and the justices reversed the petty theft because of hearsay. Johnson said he stole $50 on a debit card, they didn’t believe that story .

Detective Vowell took Johnson’s statement approximately one week after the incident. He testified that she was crying, upset, and very emotional during the statement. At one point, the detective turned off the recorder and called a rape advocate to sit with Johnson. . Johnson said Magwood locked the door and then “slammed” her face into the mirror above the sink and told her to keep quiet. He pulled her pants down to her ankles and took his own clothes off. He continued to hold her face to the mirror while he placed his penis inside her, first anally and then vaginally, while she was bent over the sink. She repeated that her face was “still slammed into the mirror.”

Johnson boasts regularly and heavily on social media about her health issues including epilepsy that causes falls and bruises, her depression, a cutter, heart problems, eating disorder, attempts to harm herself, and posts pictures of about 20 prescribed medications and the many, many visits to emergency hospitals, signs of a hypochondriac. She should have been required to submit to a psychiatric evaluation and a polygraph.

A prosecution witness stated that after the rape, Johnson became depressed and began “pushing people away.” Well, not according to her social media posts that showed her very happy the week following and according to her, she was already depressed. She also posted her face with bruises and red marks, two days before the so-called rape.

Magwood’s appeal states that Johnson agreed to meet him in the men’s restroom at the Taco Bell for sex. Magwood stated that he followed T.J. to Taco Bell and looked for her in the men’s restroom, but it was occupied. He then proceeded to the women’s restroom to look for T.J., assuming she went there instead. Magwood claimed that he and T.J. proceeded to have consensual oral sex then he proceeded to his CD selling post as she went to another store to ‘charge her phone.’

The Justices wrote, “A police report concerns T.J. repeatedly visiting an emergency room in Geauga County for a non-emergency injury to her arm. Apparently, the emergency room staff had to call security and this resulted in police involvement.”

” Magwood first argues that defense counsel failed to investigate T.J.’s credibility, which would have “uncovered” 2011 and 2015 police reports alleging, that T.J. “behaved in a physically aggressive manner” and that T.J. abused emergency room medical service. I might add she also got an EMS worker fired.

“T.J.’s credibility is certainly at the heart of this case, but Magwood is not alleging that T.J. filed false police reports or was untruthful in any other way regarding the 2011 and 2015 police reports. Therefore, we cannot say that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate T.J.’s credibility… we cannot say that Magwood was prejudiced at trial,” excerpt from the Supreme Court’s opinion.

Many Blacks would beg to differ, including Ronnie Long, David Hart who pleaded out to a fake white girl rape and Emmitt Till’s relatives.

“I could have been killed,” said Long who was exonerated after 44 years in prison for the rape of a white woman.

Magwood has the support of both of his children’s mothers and his current girlfriend whom all get along well, confirmed with conversations via telephone.

“He’s very protective, very caring. The whole ideal of him assaulting anybody is absurd. He may be considered a man whore but he is not a sexual offender. He’s not an evil man, he loves his children and he needs to be home to raise them,” said Barbie Colon, mother of his 11 year old son.