Two Lorain men acquitted in alleged 2018 kidnapping, rape

This story has been edited to reflect the following corrections: Michael Duff and R.J. Budway shared office space as attorneys, but were never partners. Additionally, the incident began at the Speedway gas station at Leona Street and Griswold Road. ELYRIA — Two Lorain men accused of kidnapping and raping a woman more than three years ago were acquitted of all charges in a four-day trial in Lorain County Common Pleas Court this week. Robert Woods, 46, and Thomas Trent Jr., 47, were accused of offering to help a woman fix a flat tire near Midway Mall in Elyria in July 2018, then persuading her to go elsewhere because they did not have the correct car repair tools. They were later accused of raping her, former Lorain County Prosecutor Dennis Will told The Chronicle-Telegram in 2019. Jurors took less than two hours Thursday to reject felony rape and kidnapping charges and set both men free. On the advice of their former attorney, Michael Duff, both men had pleaded guilty in September 2020 and were facing mandatory prison time. They later asked to have their guilty pleas withdrawn, alleging that Duff demanded an additional $15,000 fee from each of them four days before their trial was scheduled to start. They also claimed Duff coerced them into accepting the plea deals. On Dec. 18, 2020, the morning the men were to be sentenced, Trent asked to withdraw his guilty plea because he learned that Woods had gotten a new lawyer and filed his own motion to withdraw his guilty plea. At the time, Judge Chris Cook denied Trent's motion and sentenced him to seven years in prison. However, after reviewing attorney R.J. Budway's motion to withdraw Woods' guilty plea, he appointed attorney Kreig Brusnahan to represent Trent. Cook agreed with the legal arguments presented by new attorneys and allowed both Woods and Trent to withdraw their guilty pleas in January. He wrote in his decision that the surprise fee Duff planned to charge caused each man's guilty plea to be "coerced and involuntary because he believed he had no choice but to plea." Brusnahan on Thursday said he was "relieved" Trent was acquitted. "It's always difficult when you have a client you know is innocent facing the charges as serious as these were, and for him to have to go through what he has gone through these past few years and then to be acquitted is a relief not only I'm sure to him and his family but to me as well," Brusnahan said. Budway said the accuser was intoxicated the night she accused the men of assaulting her. They offered her help with her flat tire at the Speedway at Leona Street and Griswold Road, then Trent drove it back to his house, where the three had a bonfire and were drinking alcohol. They then went to Woods' house, where the woman "put on a strip show" but became angry when the men wouldn't pay her, Budway said. Trent at one point "opened the garage and the woman was engaged in some kind of dancing" either on a table or raised surface, "so my client really had nothing at all to do with any kind of sexual activity or anything," Brusnahan said. After leaving Woods' house, the woman "ran down the street yelling 'Fire!' and not 'Rape!'" Brusnahan said. She banged on a door and the resident called the Lorain County Sheriff's Office. Four deputies responded to the scene. Three of those testified for the defense at this week's trial, Brusnahan said. "How often does that happen?" he said. "All three (of the deputies) indicated she never, ever told them she had been assaulted or raped or kidnapped or anything of that nature. She indicated she was worried about getting arrested herself" for being intoxicated, Brusnahan said. A deputy then drove the woman home "and she never said a word to him about being assaulted," Brusnahan said. She ended up returning home at 5 a.m. without having called her boyfriend all night and gave him the story that she had been assaulted, he and Budway said. The woman had no visible injuries, and none that were consistent with her testimony about being kidnapped and raped. When it came to trial, Budway and Brusnahan said the woman was a poor witness. Budway said it was clear during the trial that the jury didn't believe her. Brusnahan said he hadn't seen a witness behave like the accuser did in 40 years of practicing law. Both attorneys said Cook had to advise her to behave in court. "When you tell a lie, it's hard to support (it) three years later in court," Budway said. Duff's law license is listed as inactive by the Ohio Supreme Court's attorney database. Budway said Duff, with whom he'd shared office space previously, is no longer a practicing lawyer. "It was sad what happened to them," Budway said of the defendants. "I really care about the cases I undertake and clients I represent and I couldn't be more grateful to the jury for seeing through what I thought was a fabrication and finding their way to the truth," Brusnahan said. "I'm forever grateful for the jury, who were able to see through this and render a just verdict." Reporter Dylan Reynolds contributed to this story. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter.