Jury deliberates ‘sex kit,’ Snapchats and rape allegation in trial of Fresno attorney
The fate of family law attorney Jennifer Walters, charged with 15 counts of sex crimes involving a minor, is now in the hands of a Fresno County jury.
Prosecutor Kaitlin Drake and defense attorney Mark Broughton delivered their closing statements Monday, offering vastly different portrayals of Walters, a divorced mother of two from north Fresno.
Walters, 42, listened intently as Drake described her as a woman who willingly entered into a four-year sexual relationship with a minor starting when the boy was 13 years old.
The boy, now 20, broke his silence over their clandestine relationship in 2019 when he told his parent. Walters was investigated, arrested, and later charged with multiple counts of sex crimes, including lewd or lascivious acts with a minor, sodomy of a person under 18 years old and unlawful sexual intercourse.
If convicted on all counts, Walters faces a maximum of 24 years in prison.
Evidence in the case includes numerous Snapchat messages between Walters and the teenager. In the messages, they talk about their rocky relationship, his desire for her and his hope that one day they won’t have to keep their affair a secret.
In one message, Walters refers to the teenager as “her person” and in another, they talk about finding the right time to “hook up.”
“When she says hook up, it is clear what she meant,” Drake said.
The prosecutor reminded the jury that even though the teenager alleges he had consensual sex with Walters numerous times, he is not the one who did something wrong.
“He is not to blame,” Drake said. “The defendant is on trial for her repeated conduct to have sex with (the teenager).”
Drake said Walters knew what she was doing and didn’t care. She added that the messages between the two sound like they are both teenagers, but they are not. Walters is 22 years older than the teenager.
There were messages, Drake said, that pointed to Walters’ jealousy of a teenage girl that the teenager was interested in. Other times, the teenager would send explicit messages about wanting to have sex with Walters.
Her response on Snapchat was, “Down boy.”
Drake said that if Walters wasn’t in a sexual relationship with the teenager, she should’ve been shocked.
“The only response she would have had is, ‘What are you talking about?’” Drake said.
Also introduced as evidence were fuzzy handcuffs, underwear, a bustier, lingerie, and a mask. Some of the items were found in a box that also contained some of Walters’ items from her office. The teenager alleged he and Walters had sex in her office many times.
Drake called the items her sex kit.
Broughton, Walters’ attorney, told the jury that his client was the real victim. He alleges Walters was raped and sodomized by the teenager while the two were in her office.
Broughton said the teenager made up the story about having a four-year relationship with Walters, a woman he became infatuated with. The teenager and Walters’ son were close friends, and he visited their home often.
Broughton theorized that the teenager was scared that Walters might go to the police with the rape allegation.
“Our argument is that it never happened,” Broughton said. “He made it up. It was his defense.”
The fact that Walters didn’t report the rape until months after it happened isn’t unusual, especially in the era of the “me too” movement, he said.
Broughton also downplayed the instant messages between the two as circumstantial. He said there aren’t any messages where either one says they are having sex.
Broughton said his client answered all of the prosecutor’s questions in a calm and direct manner.
“She was unshakable,” he said. “And she explained every allegation against her.”
The jury resumes deliberating Tuesday.
