Handling of rape cases is upheld

An inquiry clears a Pasco detective who refused to believe a woman who said she had been raped twice.

By CARY DAVIS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 7, 2002

NEW PORT RICHEY -- A detective did nothing wrong when she questioned the credibility of a woman who said she had been raped twice by the same man in a span of 29 days, according to an internal police investigation.

New Port Richey Detective Jackie Pehote was accused by the victim of negligence and gross insensitivity.

"I believe that you were battered," Pehote told the victim, who was left with a black eye and 15 broken teeth after the first attack. "But I do not believe it happened the way you say."

A jury did not share Pehote's doubts, convicting John A. Casteel of rape after a three-day trial in August. Casteel previously served 14 years in prison for a 1983 rape, and was released from prison weeks before the first rape.

Prosecutors dropped the charge for the second assault because Casteel was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The woman, who plans to sue the city, said Wednesday she's not surprised by the department's findings. She is not being identified because she is a rape victim.

"I kind of expected this," she said. "They know I'm suing them. If they put down that they did something wrong, that would hurt their case."

Police Capt. Martin Rickus, who conducted the investigation, defended Pehote in his report. The victim's story had a number of inconsistencies, and Pehote was right to have doubts and ask tough questions, he wrote.

"Some people may not feel that this approach should be used when dealing with a rape victim," Rickus wrote. "But it is also important that investigators make logical connections between what they are told by victims and what they observe."

The report criticized another detective, William Barrus, for waiting seven months before submitting for testing a semen sample taken from the woman after the first rape.

The report recommends that officers be given clear guidelines outlining the steps to be followed in submitting evidence. It also recommended a sergeant be added to the detective bureau to supervise investigations.

The internal investigation also looked at misstatements Pehote made in a January 2001 court hearing about her investigation of the death of a 3-year-old foster child. Pehote testified that she never threatened to arrest the wife of the defendant, but a videotape showed that she had.

"She's going to jail," Pehote told defendant Jim Curtis while his wife, Jennifer, was in the room. "She's being arrested for murder, manslaughter or whatever you want to call it. A baby's dead and I'm pretty sure she did it. So she's going to jail and there's going to be no bond on her."

Rickus said Wednesday that he did not view the videotape as part of his investigation.

He said Pehote misspoke because she did not review the videotape before the hearing. She forgot that she had threatened to arrest Jennifer Curtis, and became confused under intense questioning by a defense attorney.

Shortly after Pehote's testimony came under attack, prosecutors allowed Jim Curtis, who had been charged with first-degree murder, to plead guilty to manslaughter.

Pehote said Wednesday she was pleased with the outcome of the internal investigation.

"It's been very stressful and I'm very glad that it's over," she said.

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