Hunter
05/23/23
An Iowa City man who was falsely accused and eventually acquitted of sexual assault lost his malicious prosecution claim against the city and the detective in the case.
The Gazette reports Joshua Venckus sued the city of Iowa City and police Detective Andrew Rich for their role in his criminal prosecution in a rape case. Venckus alleged the case was pursued against him although he had what he described as an airtight alibi.
The rape occurred in February 2013 at a house rented by Venckus and others. He was in Chicago the weekend the incident occurred, and had bank card and cellphone evidence verifying his location. However, DNA from a blanket used to cover the woman victim when she went to sleep on a couch in the main living room before she was raped was tied to Venckus and the other suspect, Ryan Markley.
Detective Rich was told by the residents that Venckus was out of town that weekend. Police found evidence that someone entered the house through a basement apartment window and found Markley’s wallet nearby.
During trial, a DNA expert testified that the quantity of Venckus’ DNA on the victim wasn’t consistent with him being the rapist. The expert believed that his DNA was transferred from Markley to the victim during the attack.
Detective Rich testified there was no evidence that more than one person committed the crime. Still, Rich testified the evidence leaned more heavily toward Venckus being the perpetrator despite the victim’s blood found on the inside of Markley’s jeans, and Markley’s skin cells were found in the victim’s cervix.
Markley eventually entered an agreement where he plead guilty to burglary and entered an Alford plea to a charge of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse without injury, a misdemeanor.
Venckus was found not guilty in his trial regarding the case, and sued for defamation, abuse of process, and malicious prosecution. The civil case was dismissed, and Venckus appealed.
Last week, the district court ruled in favor of Detective Rich and the City. The justices said there was ongoing existence of probable cause, saying his alibi was provided exclusively by friends and family, Venckus could not definitely say how he got to Chicago, and he replaced his cellphone the day after the attack.
