Our Story

What really happened on September 13, 2007? The media reported the Prosecutor’s version. The following letter is the truth as we, the family and friends of Christopher Jack Reid know it. After conducting our own investigation, we present our findings which establish Chris’s innocence. We back up our story with police reports, DNA testing data, and Forensic experts–all evidence the jury did not hear or see. Our story begins below:

Wrongful Conviction

Christopher Jack Reid’s family and friends are fighting for his life and will not stop until he is released from Prison! Although the act of rape is the most horrific, disgusting and traumatizing thing anyone can endure, we strongly feel that being wrongfully convicted of rape is just as bad.

Before we continue it should be noted that we will be covering some touchy subjects. With that said, a collegiate dictionary defines rape as sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will of, usually, a female. The accuser in this case has not accused anyone of the kind of rape mentioned above. She claims that she woke up to find a finger touching her vagina. Christopher was with 2 men on the night that this took place; it was Kyle Schott and Colin Davis.

Kyle Schott admits to touching the accuser’s vagina with his finger. However the accuser never claimed Christopher touched her. He was at most only convicted of being an accomplice, because they claim he was in the room. Now, when you hear that someone has been sentenced to life in prison, your first thought is that he must have killed someone. If it is for rape he must have been a serial rapist, or at least have an extensive criminal history. None of the above is true in this case. After high school graduation in Houston, Texas, he served as a machine gunner in the Marine Corps for four years (2000-2004). He was stationed in California and Japan and fought in Iraq for the better part of 2003.

Well…….what’s the catch? After his military service, Christopher joined the adult film industry. It was certainly not his parent’s proudest moment, as they expected him to attend college in Texas upon his discharge. At first they did not believe him. They asked him not to do adult films but he said, “I love you both. I have thought this through. For now I am happy doing this. This is my unconventional free spirited way of living up the freedom that I just fought for in Iraq. It’s a legitimate business and I plan to treat it as such while having the time of my life and getting paid well.”

THANK YOU

We want to stop for a brief moment to say thank you. Anyone reading this has an open mind and deserves our gratitude for taking the time to do it. The following information will prove how a small town stood together against a single man. They corrupted the legal system that Americans trust. They tore Christopher from his family, friends and life because they feared his way of living.

Christopher has always maintained his innocence. Listed below are some key facts that you should bear in mind while reading:

*Washington State has imposed an “indeterminate sentence” law pertaining to some sex crimes and other serious violent offenses. In a nutshell, Christopher was charged with rape in the second degree and because of the “indeterminate sentence” law, he is serving a life sentence with a minimum of 9 ½ years. That law means that the Department of Corrections can choose to release him but they do not have to. This was never explained to Christopher by his lawyer. He only found out about the life sentence after the trial. That is just UN-American as far as we are concerned. He would have taken a plea deal had he known he was facing life behind bars. (lifewithoutknowing.com)

*Christopher paid his trial lawyer $25k, $20k for a retainer fee and $5k if the case went to trial. Had there been no trial, his lawyer would have missed out on that extra $5k.

*Christopher’s bail was $200k; Kyle Schott’s bail was $100k

*Christopher drove 26 hours to turn himself in when he became aware of the charges.

*Kyle Schott was found at his home with no beard after word was spread that authorities were searching for a bearded man with shaggy long hair. The police found evidence there, a pair of sunglasses that Kyle Schott had stolen that night from the residence where the accuser had spent the night.

*Kyle Schott violated his bail agreements and went to jail for driving drunk.

*The accuser was in her final college years of studying child education. All other witnesses were college students at WSU in Pullman, WA, possibly contributing to bias.

*The two female forensic scientists, who did all DNA lab testing, were both WSU grads.

*There are no fingerprints, DNA, or evidence of any kind that puts Christopher in the room where the assault took place. He was charged, stood trial and convicted of the following:

1) Rape 2 @ Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority

2) Burglary 1 @ Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority

3) Residential Burglary @ Pi Beta Phi Sorority

4) Residential Burglary @ Delta Gamma Sorority

5) Attempted Residential Burglary @ Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity- the jury found him not guilty of this charge.

KYLE SCHOTT TOOK THE DEAL

In, 2007 Kyle Schott pleaded not guilty to one count of rape in first degree, burglary in the first degree, residential burglary 2 counts, and attempted residential burglary charges and instead took a plea deal for third-degree rape and second-degree burglary convictions, along with only 13 months jail time, in exchange for his testimony against Christopher.

FILMING IN SEATTLE

Christopher had been employed in the adult film industry under the screen name “Jack Venice.” He had just finished a movie in Seattle, for the company with which he was employed, and had a few days off before he was scheduled to go to Canada to begin production for his next film. Christopher had been told by several people in Seattle that Pullman was a good time so he went there to go out and meet new people.

PULLMAN

After arriving in Pullman, the first people that Christopher talked to were a couple of WSU students having lunch in front of a sandwich shop. In the course of the conversation the students suggested a few bars that they thought Christopher might enjoy. In the description that they later gave to the police during the investigation they said that Christopher was wearing a gray t-shirt and blue jeans. They also noted the Triangle Tattoo on the back of his neck. These are the first witnesses who noticed the Tattoo on Christopher. This will be relevant later in the accuser’s testimony.

NIGHT BEGINS

Christopher went to one of the bars suggested by the students later that evening. His cell phone records show that he was on the cell phone from 9:59 to 10:48 with a friend, putting Christopher at the bar, Mike’s (aka Stubblefield’s), at approximately 11:00 pm or shortly thereafter. Once he arrived he began talking with two local WSU students, Kyle Schott and Colin Davis. A couple of the other patrons in the bar recognized him from his films and joined them. He bought a few drinks for the group and headed out to another bar with Kyle Schott and Colin Davis. However, they only stayed there for one drink before heading back to the first bar.

BARS CLOSE

Colin Davis claims he went home at this point but a witness who was closing the bar, states that she saw three men standing in front of the bar just before closing time. Keep in mind that Colin Davis testified that he has a history of blackouts. The bartender later testified that they left at 1:45 and describes Christopher’s Triangle Tattoo on the back of his neck. She remembers him because she had overheard his conversation with the other people about the adult film industry, and also because he had been flirtatious with her. She was the second witness to identify Christopher’s tattoos. So now it is very clear that he is wearing a t-shirt that shows off the Tattoo on the back of his neck. The waitress describes him as wearing a t-shirt and jeans.

GREEK ROW

Kyle Schott bragged that he could find a private party for them to go to and talked about having previously walked around Greek Row all the time with his friends. So they went in search of, and found, a party at an apartment down the hill from the bar where they were asked to join a game of beer pong. The residents of this house did not believe Kyle Schott when he told them that Christopher was a porn star. Christopher pulled up a web site to prove his identity; however the picture was small so he dropped his pants to show the bullet tattoo, a tattoo that he got when he was in the Marines that was the same as in the picture, and inadvertently exposed himself. They were asked to leave at that point, which they did. The witness from this party is the third witness who talks about the very visible tattoos.

1^ST COUNT OF RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY

He went to his rental car with Kyle Schott, after leaving the party, and made a phone call on his cell at 2:20 am. (to 2:28 am.) to a personal friend in Houston, TX. This can be verified on his cell phone bill. He intended to leave but Kyle Schott told him that he knew the Greek area and some sorority homes that they could prank on for fun. Kyle Schott convinced Christopher that this type of activity goes on all the time there and that there would be no harm in it. Another witness’ testimony at the trial also supported that assertion. Kyle Schott and Christopher went to prank the Pi Beta Pi Sorority. Kyle Schott, having been inside this home previously, was familiar with it and testified to this at trial.

The witness at this residence, Ms. Williams (a WSU student), testified that she saw THREE men and that she was 100% sure that there were THREE men at her home that night, two men inside and one man standing on the porch. Now I would like to point out that the District Attorney’s theory is that Christopher was out looking for women to have sex with, but he never made any advances on Ms. Williams. Christopher was just playing a prank with Kyle Schott. In a photo line up the witness, was able to identify Kyle Schott because she had seen him clearly from her window. She said; that she heard a lot of noise coming from upstairs and that he had been on the porch, looking up as if he were trying to communicate with someone up there. She then saw two men come down and play with the window in the room across the hall from her room between 3:30 am. and 4:00 am.

In Ms. Williams’s statement to the police in the discovery package, she describes one man wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. The second man had on a forest green T-shirt and blue jeans. The third man, that was outside, had curly hair, was wearing a brown or tan hat with a small beard, and had a bandage on his hand. This would be Kyle Schott. She testified that one of the men closed her door and they all left the building.

Part of the Burglary charges against Christopher are due to a missing can of Coca Cola. The owner of the coke testified that everyday she put two cans in her refrigerator and that the next morning they were gone. No one observed who took the cans of soda. One can had been opened and was thrown away before the police could obtain it for evidence. At the trial the unopened coke can, which had been turned in for evidence, did not have Christopher’s fingerprints on it, and it never left the property. All the State has is one witness who saw men in her home, and thinks she heard a can of coke being opened. The witness didn’t see the face of the man who took the cokes which she admits at the trial. Here is a section of the trial transcript:

A: Yeah. Right before they left the room I heard the mini-fridge open and I heard some soda cans like pop open. So they went in there and took sodas out and drank them.

Q: Okay. And did you actually see one of the men drinking?

A: Not that I recall.

Q: Okay. Did you hear the can — did you hear one or more cans opening?

A: I can’t say if I heard more than one. I’m not–

Q: I’m sorry?

A: I’m not sure if I heard more than one. I know I heard can, like the opening of a can. I don’t know if I heard two separate cans opening.

ATTEMPTED RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY (NOT GUILTY)

Continuing on, Christopher and Kyle Schott went across the street to the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity house where they played with the key pad trying to get someone to come to the door. Two men who were up studying came to the door. These witnesses testified that Christopher asked for some water or tea to drink but the two men told him they did not have any. Christopher offered to pay for it, but he and Kyle Schott were asked to leave so they left. They described Christopher as wearing a t-shirt and Kyle Schott as wearing a ball hat. They said the time was about 3:30, which can’t possibly be true since they were at the Pi Beta Pi Sorority at that time. So there are time discrepancies in the witness testimonies.

2^ND COUNT OF RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY

The next sorority house they pranked was the Delta Gamma sorority. A window was open at this house. A sorority member woke up and saw a man climb over her desk, proceed into the hallway, and close her door. Now we would like to point out again that the District Attorney’s theory is that Christopher was out looking for women to have sex with. This is the second woman he ran across that night and he made no advances on her in any way. Upon entering the window a hard hat that held beer cans was accidentally knocked out of the window. The District Attorney, Denis Tracy, theorizes that Christopher intentionally threw it out of the window. Again, the most he should be charged with here is trespassing. The hat was found outside the window the following day, where it had fallen, and Christopher’s fingerprints were not on it. Ms. Gaddy never mentioned that she saw the man throw anything out of the window. This is one of his Burglary charges, even though the item was still on the property and Christopher never touched it. The sorority member got up, followed Christopher, saw him at the bottom of the stairs and watched him let Kyle Schott in. She described the man who climbed in her window as 5’8” to 5’9” with a stocky build, close cut dusty blond hair, and wearing a muscle t-shirt and Jeans. He had a triangle tattoo on his neck below the hair line, which would be Christopher, although he was not wearing a muscle shirt. The other man was 6’0” to 6’2” with dark shaggy hair and a full beard and wearing a ball hat, white t-shirt with a red logo on it, baggy blue jeans, and white shoes; this would be Kyle Schott.

Ms. Gaddy asked both men what they were doing there. She testified that the shorter of the two men said, “We are here to play a prank.” Christopher asked to use the restroom and Ms. Gaddy allowed him to do so. She then asked them to leave but Christopher went to the living room and started playing the piano. The noise brought a senior member of the house, Ms. Davolt, out to the area where she confronted the two men more forcefully and they left. At this point Ms. Davolt checked the time on her cell phone. It was 3:57 am. At the trial, the court asked Ms. Davolt if she would have called the police for this incident, had she not heard of the rape case and she testified “MOST LIKELY NOT“. In court, when questioned as to why not, Ms. Davolt stated that she felt that it was a couple of guys messing around and that she didn’t see any harm in it. This corresponds with what Kyle Schott had told Christopher earlier about this kind of activity being normal around there. Ms. Davolt is sure that she started hearing the noise out front at 3:45 am. to 3.50 am., the noise from Christopher playing the piano. Ms. Davolt said; that she was in the kitchen studying and that she keeps her cell phone with her while she is studying. Christopher had been playing the piano only a few minutes when she confronted him and they left, making it around 3:55 am. to 3:57am, and not the 20 minutes that district attorney, Denis Tracy, had suggested in his brief. She also identifies Christopher’s Triangle Tattoo on the back of his neck. She is the fourth witness to identify Christopher’s Tattoo.

2^ND DEGREE RAPE AND 1^ST DEGREE BURGLARY

Now we will address the Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority, the house where the accuser was assaulted. There was a computer that one of the students had left on, in the study room in the basement. A computer expert, at the trial, had the hard drive from this computer tested and said that a porn site had been accessed at 3:54 am. It was verified that the time was correct by a sergeant with the WSU police department who manages the cyber crime and computer forensic unit and he testified to this at trial. Christopher could not have been at the Delta Gamma Sorority playing a piano and at the Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority at the same time. Remember Ms. Davolt checked her cell phone at the Delta Gamma Sorority and it was 3:57 am. The District Attorney said that it takes two minutes to walk from the Delta Gamma house to the accuser’s house. The time frame does not support the District Attorney’s theory, which is that Christopher left the Delta Gamma house in time to walk over, get in, locate the computer and turn on a web site at the Kappa Alpha Theta house at 3:54 am because Ms. Davolt previously testified that the time on her cell phone showed 3:57 am as the time that the men left. The only way this could have happened is if a third person had arrived at this sorority house before Kyle Schott arrived and that person would have to know where to go to use this computer. Perhaps it was the man with longer hair, wearing khaki shorts and a maroon shirt, which was the description given by the accuser on the 13^th of September. Remember, this was Christopher’s first time to Pullman so he certainly had never been in any of these homes before. However both Kyle Schott and Colin Davis had.

The police report say that at about 4:34 am., a burglary and sexual assault was reported. At the trial the accuser explained that she was sleeping in her friend’s bedroom, lying on her side and that she was awakened by someone fingering her, although she was not sure if it was a finger or something else. Kyle Schott admitted to doing this to her, during his testimony at the trial. She said that Kyle Schott was next to her and that another man, whom she did not see well, was behind him. During the police report she said the opening of what sounded like a condom wrapper woke her so her statements on how she was awoken changed. She also stated that she was menstruating and that her tampon had been removed. The accuser said; that when she woke up, they immediately got up and ran out of the room. The taller of the two was hunched over and walking funny. A large black and white striped pillow was missing; it was alluded to that the pillow may have been used by the hunched over man to cover himself.

ACCUSER CHANGES STORY TO FIT PROSECUTOR’S THEORY

Regarding the description of the suspected attackers, she stated that she didn’t get a good look at them but in piecing together her statements, including the one made at trial, she described the men as both white and that one had straight brown hair that was a couple inches long. She said that he was wearing khaki cargo shorts, a maroon shirt and hat. This is a description that does not fit Christopher and none of the other witnesses describes him this way. The other male was just wearing a white t-shirt. Christopher and Kyle Schott both had on a white t-shirts. She never mentions any tattoos but yet all of the other witnesses mention the prominent tattoos on Christopher. We would like to point out that Christopher has short light hair, so short that everyone except the accuser saw the tattoo on his neck.

The state said in his brief to the appeal court that Christopher had asked Kyle Schott for a condom and that he had pulled his pants down and was caressing the accuser with his hands. If this was true, how is it possible that the accuser did not see the large bullet bandolier belt tattoo around Christopher’s leg? The accuser talks about seeing her attacker’s legs in her interview but said there was nothing to remember. If she had seen Christopher’s legs, there are tattoos on them that are very visible and the accuser would have remembered them.

In her police interview, the accuser also says, “when I woke up I turned my head over like that, and I saw the guy laying next to me opening a condom and I mean it was very evident.” The accuser said Kyle Schott was the guy next to her. So the accuser’s police statement is different than Kyle Schott’s statement. Why did the state not believe the accuser with this part? Kyle Schott is the witness that admitted to lying throughout the entire case.

A detective asked the accuser if she had been drinking and she admitted that she had, had two gin and tonics and had also shared a pitcher of beer at a night club. She was unsure about the total amount of alcohol she had consumed but that she had started drinking around 10 pm. No one verified her story for accuracy.

At the time of the police report, the officer asked if she was alright or if she needed an ambulance. The accuser stated that she was fine. A detective explained to her that, although she did not think someone had actually inserted a penis in her, he still recommended that she go to the hospital to get a rape exam done and she complied. The medical report came back with no evidence connecting Christopher to the crime.

The entire witness identification process was unfair in more than one way. The recorded police statement given by the accuser contradicted her courtroom I.D. She told police that the only thing she remembered about the appearance of the second guy in the room was that he had spikier blonde hair. This is different from her original statement in which she said that he had brown hair about two inches long. When asked to describe his face, she said “the face is unclear to me just because it was just a guy’s face to me. I don’t remember eye color or anything because it was still dark in there.” However, thirteen months later at trial, she pointed Christopher out in court and said, “That’s him. I could never forget his face.” We would also like to point out that the attorney should have motioned to allow the jury to hear her original recorded police statement given by her. Had that happened, we strongly believe there would have been a different outcome all together. It is a proven fact that memory does not get better over time.

There is also the photo montage in which the accuser was looking for a man with blonde hair because, by this time, she had seen Christopher’s picture in the news. Only one of the ten photos shown to her by police could possibly fit that description. The other 9 photos were of men that had darker hair. She stated that she didn’t get a good look at the assailants when she talked to a detective on the day of the crime yet she was able to identify Christopher at trial. We would like to note that she testified to having seen photos of Christopher in the newspaper prior to trial and even before coming to court on the morning of her testimony. We feel that the attorneys and the court erred by allowing her to identify Christopher in court, but his attorney made no attempt to prevent it.

Christopher’s attorney also made no acknowledgment of the unfairness of the photo montage that was included in the discovery package that his attorney received in 2007. He did not even become aware of how unfair the photo montage was until October 19, 2008 when Christopher and his father, Jack Reid, had a meeting with him in his office, which was one day before trial. That was a monumental mistake on his part and Judge Frazier even acknowledged the unfairness of the photo montage.

CRIME LAB RESULTS

The testimony of the witnesses that conducted the DNA tests, Ms. Turpen and her Supervisor, Ms. Heath, show that the DNA typing profile obtained from the condom wrapper, a part of the “evidence” used to convict Christopher of second degree rape, is a mixture of at least three individuals. Statistically the accuser, Christopher, and Kyle Schott are all included as potential contributors to this mixture. What this means is that statistics show that one in three people in the U.S population could be possible contributors to the mixture and only that the three of them could not be excluded from that mixture! It is nothing other than a statistical report and it does not put Christopher in the room. There are no fingerprints, DNA, or evidence of any kind that puts Christopher in the room where the rape took place.

CRIME LAB. NEUTRAL PARTY SEEKING TRUTH, OR PROSECUTOR’S BEST FRIEND?

In the process of researching Christopher’s case, we came across a disturbing article regarding contamination and other errors in DNA analysis that occurred at the Washington State Patrol crime labs. There were 23 cases of contamination or errors in major criminal cases that the lab system admitted to, according to State Patrol and court documents, several of them in which Ms. Turpen, the same Forensic scientist that did the testing for the DNA for Christopher’s case, was directly involved. (http://www.seattlepi.com/local/183018_crimelabboxesweb22.html).

FREE CHRIS REID!

It is very obvious that Christopher made bad choices on September 13, 2007 and he knows that; so do his family and friends. He let alcohol get the best of him and he acted like a fool going into those homes with two men that he did not know. That still does not, in any way, justify a life sentence. None of the women he encountered were afraid of him nor did they call the police when he was in their homes. Again we would like to point out that the District Attorney’s theory is that Christopher was out looking for women with whom to have sex. Christopher never touched anyone. Also, we believe the attorneys and the court erred by allowing his past career choice/job title to be mentioned over 200 times throughout the trial. His attorney failed to object to that or to make any attempt to have it suppressed.

Christopher has lost the life he had established before this wrongful conviction and it should be amended. It has hurt his family and friends. It is sad that the direct appeal court allows this to happen to innocent people. They should have overturned his conviction due to ineffective counsel. The court should not overlook and excuse mistakes that result in such dire consequences. In the beginning, this hit our family like a freight train. We avoided media exposure and Christopher took the advice of his lawyer to remain silent. Now he is working on his 3^rd year in prison and we are losing faith in the appeal system. Family and friends have helped out with legal fees and we are thankful for that. We will keep fighting but feel that the courts will not move an inch unless we make some noise. So many people have reached out to Christopher to show support and that has helped him so much. We are grateful to all of them.

Twelve jurors put Christopher away for life and ignored the lack of evidence. A lot more than twelve people are on his side so if we all come together, we can get him home. You can email him. His Facebook page, listed under Christopher Reid, explains how.

THANK YOU! FROM, FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF CHRISTOPHER JACK REID