The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Fairborn Motel 6 manager found guilty of rape, abduction, other charges

Defense seeks mistrial for juror’s talk and wink with detective

Hitesh H. Patel

Man, 68, drowns at Caesar Creek Lake
5/26/12
Water rescues prompt warning from health officials
5/25/12
Beach Waterpark sued for failure to deliver
5/25/12
Raleigh Trammell’s defense opens in felony trial
5/25/12
UD to move satellite campus to Dublin
5/25/12
> More headlines

By Mark Gokavi, Staff Writer Updated 5:11 PM Wednesday, September 29, 2010

XENIA — A Fairborn Motel 6 general manager on Wednesday was found guilty of rape, abduction, gross sexual imposition and five other charges by a jury of nine women and three men Wednesday.

But his defense team announced they will file for a mistrial because they said one of the jurors spoke to the lead detective during the trial and winked at that same detective when the verdict was being read.

Hitesh H. Patel, 41, saw the jury return the verdict at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in front of Judge Stephen A. Wolaver in the Court of Common Pleas of Greene County. Patel sat silently, closing his eyes for long periods, as the Clerk of Courts Terri A. Mazur read the verdict.

Patel was handcuffed, his $20,000 bond revoked and he was remanded to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office to be imprisoned until final disposition, which was set for Nov. 17.

Prosecutor Adolfo Tornichio said the rape charge includes a minimum sentence of three years and a maximum of 10 in prison. The abduction charge can range from one to five years. The gross sexual imposition charges carries an 18-month sentence. There were eight charges the jury considered, five of which were misdemeanor sexual imposition.

The rape charge stemmed from Sept. 16, 2009, when the single mother and former Motel 6 housekeeper saved a pizza receipt to mark the day of that incident.

“Our rape victim is someone who is not able to read and write well, does not have a high school education, is doing a job that some in this world would think is menial and she may be a person that some may think society has forgotten,” Tornichio said. “But they didn’t forget her today. Her voice and her story was heard loud and clear.”

Just after the jurors left the courtroom, the attorneys for both sides met in sidebar near Judge Wolaver. At that time, defense attorney Kevin Lennen made a verbal motion for a mistrial. He said the request was based on two issues. First, he said one of the jurors had a discussion with Fairborn police Detective Lee Cyr on Tuesday morning. The second issue was the same juror winking at Cyr as Patel’s verdict was read.

Tornichio disclosed to Lennen that Cyr talked a juror on Tuesday.

“The lead detective on this case openly violated a court order by speaking to a juror,” said defense attorney Jon Paul Rion of Rion, Rion & Rion, whose firm represents Patel. “That was confirmed by testimony at the bench after the verdict.

“It offends every aspect of due process to have the lead detective, a government agent who knows better, to openly commingle with (a juror).”

Rion said the written motion likely will be filed Thursday morning.

“There was a mistrial (motion) made, and we’ll let the court rule,” Tornichio said. “And I’ll comment on it when I see it.”

The jurors got the case at 2:45 p.m. Tuesday. They were called back in at 5:10 p.m. and told to reconvene at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The trial’s most dramatic testimony was when the first victim — described as a single mother and “functional illiterate” by the prosecution — told of being cornered and sexually attacked in a motel bathroom by the defendant.

Patel’s taped interview with Cyr showed him answering questions with varying answers and ultimately sounding like he admitted to the rape.

Patel was seen on the video asking Cyr “what will be the outcome?” and then alternating between saying the allegations are not true and that he did “bad things” and made “a stupid mistake.”

The jury watched the videos during testimony and at least once during deliberations.

Patel did not take the stand in his own defense.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-6951 or mgokavi@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Share this article