Woman to receive $225,000 from S.J.

After accusing officer of raping her, two trials ended in hung juries

SAN JOSE » A woman who accused a San Jose police officer of raping her while on duty six years ago — spurring two criminal trials that ended with hung juries — will receive a $225,000 settlement from the city of San Jose.

The payout, approved by the City Council on Tuesday, concludes a dark chapter for the San Jose Police Department, which fired Officer Geoffrey Graves after investigating the woman’s claim and determining that he sexually assaulted her at the motel where she worked.

Graves was charged with rape and, in 2016, a jury deadlocked 9-3 in favor of acquitting him. Last year, his second trial ended with the same 9-3 jury count, but in favor of conviction. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office did not file for a third trial.

According to the terms of the settlement, the city does not admit any liability for what happened to the woman, whose name is being withheld by this news organization because she is a reported victim of sexual assault. A memo from the City Attorney’s Office states that the settlement was negotiated “to avoid the risks inherent in litigation.”

“Approval of this settlement brings final resolution of a difficult case,” City Attorney Rick Doyle said.

The woman’s attorney, Roger Hecht, said he was glad to secure

his client some relief from the city.

“After six years, we did the best we could,” Hecht said. “The community made a mistake by not convicting him, twice. But it happens.”

Graves was among a team of four officers who responded to a disturbance call in the middle of the night on Sept. 22, 2013, at an apartment where the woman was in an argument with her husband.

No crime occurred, but the woman asked to be taken to the Marriott TownePlace Suites, where she worked as a maid. Graves and another officer escorted her to the hotel, where she got a room. Three weeks later, during an unrelated traffic stop by the California Highway Patrol, she reported that Graves had entered her room on the night of Sept. 22 and raped her, saying she was initially afraid to report it because she was in the country illegally, and that she feared retaliation by police and rejection by her husband.

The prosecution argued that Graves had selected a “perfect victim,” who was particularly vulnerable because she was undocumented, faced a language barrier, had been drinking, and was emotional after a fight with her husband. Graves’ defense raised questions about the accuser’s credibility, and asserted the woman twisted what was a consensual, extramarital one-night stand into a purported rape to avoid a DUI arrest, obtain a visa to stay in the country, and extract a monetary settlement.

During interviews with investigators, Graves initially denied that he had sex with the woman, until he learned that her DNA was found on his bulletproof vest.

He would later testify that he lied because he was afraid of being fired. He was arrested in March 2014 after the conclusion of the SJPD investigation and was eventually terminated by the department in September 2015.