Man acquitted of rape allegations stemming from MGM Grand encounter
His 26-month-long nightmare is over.
In less than an hour, after a two-week trial, a Clark County jury of eight women and four men acquitted 25-year-old Li Zheng this week of seven charges: one count of first-degree kidnapping, three counts of sexual assault and three counts of battery with intent to commit sexual assault.
In December 2013, a 21-year-old woman accused the California man of beating and raping her in a hotel room at MGM Grand. But her story about what happened the night the two met at the Hakkasan Nightclub changed at least three times in the time before the case went to trial, according to defense attorneys Frank Cofer and Warren Geller.
Jurors were so convinced of his "actual innocence" that after the trial, over drinks at a bar across from the courthouse, they offered him business cards and email addresses to remain in touch, his lawyers said.
He had only planned to stay a couple of nights in Las Vegas, celebrating a friend's graduation.
She was in Las Vegas for the first time with family for her uncle's birthday. She had two or three Jager Bomb shots and a Long Island Iced Tea that day. She went to eat and had another Jager Bomb after dinner.
She said she didn't feel drunk when she left for the club after 10 p.m. "I was content," she testified.
She met Zheng through her cousin's mutual friend.
She said he grabbed her by the wrist and told her she was pretty. "I didn't like it." She said he offered her a vodka and cranberry juice drink that "didn't taste right."
After one sip, she set the glass down and started to dance with her cousin. She remembers the blinking lights "started getting really, really, really bright."
Suddenly, she said, her words wouldn't come out.
She said they were in a hotel room together, and he was "furious" when she refused his sexual advances. She said he punched her repeatedly in the face while screaming and laughing.
After police questioned him at the hotel, Zheng spent the next 18 days in jail.
Zheng's attorneys said they believe police could have done more to investigate the case from the start. Zheng tried to help detectives find evidence that pointed to his innocence. He turned over his cellphone, which contained text messages sent at the time of the alleged attack.
Among the concerns raised by his attorneys:
* How could he have been raping the woman and sending text messages at the same time?
* The officers didn't try to search the phone.
* Rooms above, below and to the right and left had all been rented out that night. But police didn't knock on those doors to find someone who might have heard screams.
Video surveillance shows the two holding hands and stumbling out of the Hakkasan and throughout the casino floor. The woman appears to wobble more than Zheng, and as they exit the hotel elevators, the woman trips, reaching across Zheng's body in an attempt to break her fall. She seems to be smiling as the two head down the hallway toward the room.
Geller called the police work an "extremely sloppy investigation" that "put someone's life in jeopardy."
A crime scene analyst photographed Zheng's arms and hands. There was a bite mark and scratches on his arms, but his hands were unscathed.
After the woman locked herself in the hotel bathroom, Zheng called the front desk to get them to open the door.
Zheng said that he had pulled the woman out of the bathtub and she bit and scratched him as he tried to get her to leave the hotel room.
His lawyers argued that she fell in the bathtub, which caused bruising to her body, including a "straddle" bruise on her vagina. Her blood alcohol concentration was 0.17, more than twice the legal limit for driving, and authorities found no evidence of date rape drugs in her system.
Zheng's case was dismissed in early 2014, and he thought everything was over. But that dismissal only meant prosecutors had taken the case to a grand jury. He was indicted in July 2014, and a judge issued a $500,000 warrant for his arrest. At the time, he was visiting his dying grandmother in China.
He could have stayed. The United States has no extradition treaty with China. But Cofer and Geller also advised him that it was illegal to flee criminal charges.
Zheng wanted to prove his innocence and clear his name. It was an enormous risk. If convicted, he could have been sentenced to life in prison.
"I did not think that victory was at all a foregone conclusion in this case," Cofer said.
Zheng returned to Las Vegas, knowing that he would be arrested the moment his plane landed at McCarran International Airport.
He spent the next seven weeks in the Clark County Detention Center, and in April, his bail was reduced to $1,000. Upon his release from jail, District Judge William Kephart also ordered him to surrender his passport. While Zheng awaited trial, he found work at a tech startup in Northern California, where he plans to pursue his career.
"I wanted to fight for my freedom," he said. "And I'm innocent. This is my home. ... I know you've got to fight against these false allegations."
— Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter @RandomPoker
