By Gina Barton
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MILWAUKEE — Fired Milwaukee Police Officer Ladmarald Cates testified Tuesday in federal court that a woman he is charged with raping had sex with him willingly after he asked her about a tattoo on her back.
Cates was on duty at the time, in July 2010. He had responded to the woman’s 911 call about neighbors throwing rocks and bricks through the windows of her north side home after a fight.
“We started flirting with each other, talking,” he testified.
Cates told the woman, whom he had met during an earlier traffic stop, that he was becoming aroused, he testified. Then she performed a sex act, Cates said.
She stopped when they heard the woman’s boyfriend coming, Cates said. Cates gave the boyfriend $10 and sent him to the store for water.
While her boyfriend was gone, the woman resumed what she had been doing with Cates, the former officer testified.
She stopped when the boyfriend returned again. Cates told him he could keep the change, and the man left to get gas, Cates said.
When Cates and the woman were alone in the house a third time, she again performed a sex act, he said. After that, he asked if she wanted to have intercourse. She agreed and partially undressed, he said.
“Did you believe you were engaging in a non-consensual act with her or a consensual act?” defense attorney Bridget Boyle asked.
“A consensual act,” Cates replied.
Cates’ testimony came during his trial on two federal charges: violating the woman’s civil rights while acting under the color of law and using a firearm in the commission of an act of violence, according to the indictment. The first count includes enhancers for causing bodily injury and aggravated sexual abuse.
If convicted, Cates, 44, faces a maximum possible penalty of life in prison, although he would likely serve far less under federal sentencing guidelines.
Cates fired officer Cates’ version of events stands in stark contrast to the woman’s testimony Monday. She testified that as Cates assaulted her, she feared he could kill her and she would never see her two young children again. He held her forcefully by the neck, said the woman, then 19. She didn’t try to fight him, but did not want to have sex with him and did not consent, she said.
“He’s bigger than me and stronger than me,” she testified Monday. “When you call for help, who do you call? The police. You have to listen to what the police say.” Account questioned During his cross-examination of Cates, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mel Johnson pointed out that the woman had just been in a fight, was standing amid broken glass in the house she shared with her boyfriend, and was worried about her young children and her teenage brother, who was handcuffed in a squad car with Cates’ partner.
“After all that, it’s your testimony that as soon as she got alone with you she couldn’t help herself” and initiated sexual contact? Johnson asked.
Cates agreed. Under questioning by both his own attorney and by the prosecution, Cates admitted he had lied to an internal affairs detective several times about what transpired.
“I was tired. I had been there all day,” he said. “I was basically concerned about my family, concerned about my job, my career. I just panicked.” Initially, Cates denied having any sexual contact with the woman and said he would not be comfortable with turning over his pants and underwear for DNA analysis. He was allowed to go home sometime after 4 a.m. As he watched his two sons sleeping, he decided he needed to set the record straight, Cates testified.
“It was like a big weight sitting on me,” he said.
So Cates went to talk with the investigator again. During that interview, Cates gave the same version of events he testified to in court. At that point, he agreed to turn over his clothing, according to his testimony and transcripts of the interviews.
Tests showed the woman’s DNA on the clothing, according to a stipulation Johnson read to jurors. No other DNA evidence was found in the case.
Jurors did not hear about several previous allegations of sexual misconduct against Cates. At one point, Johnson asked Cates if he knew a particular woman, but the defense successfully objected, and nothing was said about her.
Johnson also was stymied by an objection when he tried to ask Cates about being interviewed by internal affairs as a result of any other allegations.
Also Tuesday, nurse Mackenzee Kuczmarski testified about her examination of the victim and injuries to her neck that indicated she had been strangled. The woman also had injuries to her hands and shoulder blade, the nurse testified.
The woman seemed upset as she described the assault, Kuczmarski said.
“She was very closed up,” the nurse testified. “She was on my couch, curled up in a ball and she was shaking back and forth.” On cross-examination, Kuczmarski testified that there were no injuries, tears or swelling to the woman’s vagina.
Cates was fired from the Police Department in December 2010 for lying and for “idling and loafing,” because having sex on duty is against department rules.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Copyright 2012 Journal Sentinel Inc.