By Samantha Brill
Emmanuel Ryan is charged with several counts – kidnapping, rape, attempted rape, sexual battery, and assault with a deadly weapon, along with others, for a crime allegedly committed on September 19, 2016. Mr. Ryan is still being held in custody.
At the preliminary hearing, the People brought forward their first witness, “KP,” the alleged victim. The People asked KP several questions, walking through the events of the night of September 19, starting from 8:00pm and ending with her escape from the defendant around 10:00pm.
KP is the roommate of Mr. Ryan’s ex-girlfriend, “T.” Mr. Ryan lived at the apartment town home with T and KP for nine months and two weeks prior to the night in question. KP explained that T and Mr. Ryan fought quite often while they were dating, and that their relationship did not end on good terms.
She went on to explain that Mr. Ryan entered her apartment town home in West Sacramento that night, after he was banned from the home by her landlord. He entered with an old key code that had not yet been deleted from the automatic unlocking device which KP installed herself.
KP was home alone with her four-month-old son on the night in question. Upon entry, Mr. Ryan entered KP’s bedroom with a bottle of whiskey and a pack of beer. Without permission he made his first advance toward KP, and then abruptly ran upstairs and then back down into KP’s room, when he continued touching her upper leg without her consent.
Mr. Ryan became more aggressive when he allegedly pulled KP down on the bed and tried to force himself on her by ripping off her shorts. KP stated that, during this time, Mr. Ryan threatened multiple times to sexually assault her. Also he pulled out a screwdriver and pointed it at both her and her son.
After she reasoned with him, Mr. Ryan backed down before he had the opportunity to sexually assault her. He apologized and then they went into the living room where he stopped KP from running out the back door to call for help. KP continued her testimony by explaining how, during their altercation in the living room, Mr. Ryan called T and threatened he would kill KP and her son if T did not come home.
KP explained that T arrived within five minutes of their phone call and, when she arrived, Mr. Ryan forced her into KP’s bedroom where he demanded that she undress. He continued to sexually assault T, with KP and her son in the room, all while continuing to threaten them with the screwdriver.
KP stated that Mr. Ryan then allowed her to go into the kitchen to fix her son a bottle of formula. Mr. Ryan and T followed. This is when Mr. Ryan found a knife and threatened to hurt himself, and then turned the knife on T while holding it against her neck. Mr. Ryan was asking for the “truth” about whether T had cheated on him. KP also explained that Mr. Ryan stated that “only one of us is going to make it through the night.”
KP then expressed to Mr. Ryan that she felt sick and needed to lie down. He then moved all of them to KP’s room so she could lie down. That is when KP made her escape with her son out the front door to her landlord’s house, where she then called the police.
Deputy Public Defender Lisa Lance then cross-examined the witness, and started off by asking how much T pays for rent and if her rent was increased during the time Mr. Ryan was living there. KP stated that T pays $400 a month and was paying $600 when Mr. Ryan was there.
Also, KP pointed out that T had a separate lock to her bedroom door, to which Mr. Ryan had access.
The defense then continued the questioning by asking if KP remembered what happened to the whiskey once she and Mr. Ryan first left her room. She testified that she remembered he left it on her TV stand and that it appeared to be almost empty.
Mrs. Lance then asked whether the police found the screwdriver in the apartment that night. KP responded by saying that it was hidden in a dirty pot in the sink so they overlooked it. However, she did find it and told the detective about it when she went in for questioning last week.
The defense then asked KP why she did not leave after Mr. Ryan made his first advance at her, right before going upstairs. She said that at the time she did not feel the need to leave. She said that Mr. Ryan had always made her feel uncomfortable, so it was no different when he first came into the apartment – yes, it was weird but she had always felt that way about him. It was not a feeling that was out of the ordinary.
The People then asked KP to draw a layout of the bottom floor of her apartment town home, and entered it as People’s Exhibit 1.
