On the night of April 2, 1998, as I was leaving work and walking to my car, I saw three girls threatening to beat up a girl I worked with named Melissa Hughes. I walked over to try to stop the assault. When I got there the girls were pushing Melissa so I told her to get in my car. After she got in my car, Melissa and I drove over to a liquor store. When I went into the store, the girls who had been trying to beat Melissa up showed up outside. When I came out of the store I tried to talk to the girls but all they wanted was to get at Melissa Hughes.

When I finally got back into my car, I drove across the street to the parking lot where Melissa's car was parked. We looked down the alley and saw the girls parked in their car in the shadows. At this point, I told Melissa that I was going to go to the gas station and get some gas and gum. On the way over to the gas station, Melissa started to rub my right leg and said, “Thank you for saving my life.” Then she asked me if I wanted her to give me oral sex. I said, “No,” and I went to pay for the gas. When I came out from paying for the gas we drove around for a few minutes hoping the girls would get bored and leave the parking lot where Melissa's car was parked.

After a while, we ended up back in the parking lot. While we sat there I was looking out the car window thinking about seeing my girlfriend that night when I got home. Next thing I know, Melissa is giving me a hand job. After I ejaculated I got out of the car and went inside to the job site. There was a supervisor and another employee there. I spoke with them and then used the phone to call my girlfriend to tell her I was on the way home. When I got back to the car, Melissa was gone.

The next day, Friday, April 3, 1998, along with my dog, I went to work. Melissa was also at work. She played with the dog and told me "thank you" again for helping her the night before. I then left work and when I came back to work later, she and her girlfriend were in a car in the parking lot. When they saw me pull up, Melissa got out of the car and came over and started playing with my dog again. A couple of other employees saw all of us together.

The next day, Saturday, April 4, 1998, my friend, Shaun, and I were at the park. Melissa and her friend, John McDowell, were out driving and when she saw me she drove over to where I was. When she stopped her car, I went over to her and asked her what she doing and where was she coming from. She was drunk and she said that she and John had just came from a party. She offered me some of what she was drinking and I told her, “No, go home and chill out.” When I went back to my car Shaun asked me who she was and I told him.

On Sunday, April 12, 1998, a police officer came to my house and asked me if I knew Melissa. I said, “Yes.” The way the officer spoke, I thought something had happened to her. He asked me what had happened on April 2, 1998. I told him that some girls wanted to beat Melissa up. He then told me that Melissa said that I raped her. Again he asked me what happened that night and I told him. Then he asked if he could see my car. I told him, “Yeah.” When we got out to my car, he looked around and told me that he agreed that it couldn't have happened in the car. He then told me to not worry about it and that he believed me and he told me again not to worry. That's when I started to worry.

After the officer's visit, I went to my parole officer and told her what was going on. (I was on parole for kidnapping. I was in the Army and stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas in 1979 and I was told that I was supposed to have raped this girl. When I went to court I was given a plea agreement. I found out two days later that the girl had never been raped. The hospital reports were negative for rape and the police report substantiated the hospital reports. She lied because she was supposed to be home at a certain time and wasn't. This is when all my problems began.)

A week later, the same police officer came to my house to arrest me.

Why did Melissa wait eight days to decide to say I had raped her?

After I had been in jail for a while, the district attorney spoke with my parole officer. She asked my parole officer if, if she dropped the charges against me with prejudice, could she leave me in jail because she didn't have any evidence. My parole officer told her, "No."

I went to my pretrial hearing and the judge bound me over for trial. My attorneys were Mark Dinkle and Pamela Sullivan. I asked them if I could take a polygraph. I was granted one. The results said that I was telling the truth. When I asked my attorneys to have Melissa take one, they said the district attorney had said, “No.”

Then Melissa said she was pregnant. I asked my lawyer to file a motion for DNA testing. The state said, "No." This went on for months. Then the state said, "Yes." The results said that I was the father even though the dates and times the child was conceived did not correspond with the time in which the alleged rape was supposed to have happened. Although Melissa told the judge that she wasn't going to keep the baby and that she wanted to have an abortion, she later changed her mind. At my trial, she told the judge she wasn't due to give birth until late January or early February. She delivered a full term baby in November. (The rape was to have happened in April. When Melissa went to the doctor the first time, the doctor told her she wasn't pregnant. When she went back to the doctor a second time, he said she was.)

My first trial ended in a hung jury. Melissa was caught telling many, many lies. My attorney told me not to take the stand because the jury would not believe my version. During the first trial, Melissa admitted that it was her intention to “get with me” that night. My plans had been to go to the liquor store (as I did every Thursday) and go home. The state was unable to come up with a motive. Their “evidence” was a bottle of gin that I was supposed to have thrown out of my car window, but when fingerprinting was done on the bottle, they found no prints

-- none. The state's witness was caught in lies; even the police were caught in lies.

The rape was supposed to have taken place in my car, a Chevy Cavalier. Melissa said that I was to have picked her up by her waist and put her on top of me. The police officer who had looked at my car had said that wasn't possible. When Melissa was asked what article of clothing came off first, her pants or underpants, she said she didn't know. She also said that while she was sitting in the passenger seat with her feet on the floor in front of her, I was to have put my tongue in her vagina for five minutes. I supposedly did this from the driver's seat. The only so called evidence that the state used was the fact that she was pregnant and her test said it was my baby.

After carefully reviewing the medical record, a report from a women's clinic said that the medical evaluation Melissa was given by the emergency room doctor was "excellent and thorough." His findings were completely negative for rape. There was absolutely no sign of any trauma. There was no evidence of any kind of forced intercourse or any sign of rape. In fact, according to the medical record, the only proof that intercourse occurred was that she was pregnant. The clinic also wondered how underwear and pants can be removed in a small vehicle without any sign of abrasions, contusions or any other problems that would definitely still be noticeable as much as two weeks after a rape had occurred.

The investigator said that, had the rape happened in my car, there should have been some evidence left behind. There was none. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation took my car and did all kinds of tests; they came up with nothing. They even took the seat covers off and found nothing, not one single human hair. All they found was dog hair. They couldn't even find any of my pubic hairs on Melissa or in her panties.

My second trial was held using the same evidence (none). I was found guilty. One of the jurors said they wanted to hear my side. The judge instructed the jury not to take into account that I didn't testify and use that against me, but they did.

It has been proven that Melissa has been suicidal, that she has been a liar, and that all she was doing was trying to get attention by crying rape. When she told her mother that she had been raped, why did her mother wait eight days to report it? To top it all off, they didn't even actually report it; they went to the hospital to see if Melissa was pregnant, not to report a rape. The doctor said they couldn't find any evidence that a rape had happened. The doctor also said that even though Melissa took eight days to report being raped, there should have been some evidence of a rape.

Melissa's mother said she had been keeping track of her 18 year-old whose daughter's ovulation cycle and that when this “rape” happened she was ovulating. I asked my attorneys if, when Melissa masturbated me, could she have put my sperm between her legs and impregnated herself? They said they didn't know if this could work, so I contacted a doctor. He said, “Yes, especially during the ovulation.”

Becky B. has known Melissa since they were in the eighth grade. They were best friends for a long time, but their relationship has diminished over the past several months. In an affidavit, Becky said Melissa is from a family with seven children (some of the children are foster children) and Melissa's family is generally in turmoil. Becky says Melissa needs attention and will do “things” for attention. She wants to be the center of attention. Becky also said that for a while Melissa was drinking and she believes Melissa made sure her parents knew she was drinking so she could get attention. She also believes that Melissa was taking drugs because of her behavior and her eyes were glassy.

Becky also said that Melissa claimed to have had oral sex with five or six guys. Melissa went out with a man named Jamal Jackson a few times and they had sex. Becky believes Jamal is the father of Melissa's baby.

During her testimony, Melissa said she had been raped, but she went to work the next morning where she saw me. When she was asked how she acted, she said, “I acted normal. I didn't want him to know anything was going on. I was scared of what he would do, what he would say, and how he would act if he knew or thought I would report it or something.”

When she was asked if she had thanked him for helping her the night before she said, "Yeah."

When she was asked if she did anything else she said, "I gave him a hug."

I think that, had I been raped, I would not have even gone to work the next day if I had known I would be seeing my “rapist.” I certainly would not approach him, thank him, AND give him a hug.

When Becky was asked if Melissa was an honest person, she said, “No, she can lie about anything. She can make herself cry when she wants to. She's a pathological liar.”

My case is still in the first stage of the appeals process. My court appointed appellate attorney, Mr. Durham, gave my oral argument on April 10, 2001. So far I have not heard from him.

I am praying desperately that someone out there will be able to help me. I have copies of any and all information that you may need.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Write:

Garnet Tolen #38424
Lansing Correctional Facility
PO Box 2
Lansing, KS 66043

Outside contact:
Mark Dinkle
c/o Salina Regional Public Defender
234 N. 7th Suite A
Salina, KS
(785) 827-9961

Any help that you could give to me would be greatly appreciated. The only person that may be able to tell you anything about what happened is my Public Defender, Mark Dinkle. Other than him, there is no one else because it was her word against mine. As for my case, it is still in the first stage of the appeal. My appointed Appellate attorney, Mr. Durham did my oral argument on April 10, 2001. So far I have not heard from him.

Mr. Dinkle's address is
234 N. 7th Ste A
Salina, KS
c/o Salina Regional Public Defender
(785) 827-9961

Selected Highlights of the Statement of Becky (dated May 27, 1998)

Becky is a high school student and works evenings at I.Telemarketing. She knows all the people involved in this case. She has known Tolen since he began working at I.T. They have socialized; she has attended his “counseling sessions,” and has watched his baseball games. She claims to know of his background. She said she has ridden alone in a car with Tolen before and he has never acted inappropriately toward her and she trusts him.

Becky has known Melissa since they were in the 8th grade, through school, church and work. They were best friends for a long time, but that relationship has diminished over the past several months. Becky said Melissa is from a family with seven children (part of them foster children) and the family is generally always in a turmoil. Melissa needs attention and will do things for attention. Melissa wants to be the center of attention. Becky said for a while Melissa was drinking and Becky believes Melissa made sure her parents knew she was drinking so she could get attention. She also believes that Melissa was taking drugs because of her behavior and her eyes were glassy.

Becky said Melissa has had “many” boyfriends and when the relationships end Melissa can't deal with that. Melissa attempted suicide on Super Bowl Sunday in Jan. 1997 because “Joe Riner” broke up with her after a couple of weeks. She began spreading rumors about Riner to get even with him. Becky could not recall exactly what all Melissa was saying, but the rumors about Riner were all untrue. Becky said as a result of these acts, a lot of Melissa's friends stopped associating with her because of what she had said about Riner. This prompted Melissa to attempt suicide.

Becky said in the summer of 1997 Melissa was again suicidal over a guy named Adam Whalen. Becky said Melissa told her they had messed around but denied having sex. Becky said that Adam and Melissa broke up and to get back at him for breaking up with her she began to spread the rumor that Adam had herpes. He did not have herpes, but the rumors caused a lot of embarrassment for Adam at school and among his friends. Melissa told her grandmother and she took her to be examined and tested.

Becky said Melissa just can't deal with breaking up with boys, it throws her whole life into turmoil. When asked how many boys Melissa dated Becky said it was “too many to count.” She said Melissa and she were together and Melissa tried to recall and count all the boys she had gone out with and could not recall all of them.

Becky said that Melissa claimed to have had oral sex with 5 or 6 guys. Melissa went out with Jamal Jackson a few times and they had sex. Becky believes Jamal is the father of Melissa's baby

When asked if Melissa was an honest person, Becky said, “No, she can lie about anything. She can make herself cry when she wants to. She is a pathological liar.”

Becky said the police asked her to come to the police station. When she arrived they put her into a room and gave her a statement form. She said during their initial discussion Investigator Tackett told her to “stop lying to me.” She was upset that they thought she was lying. She said she did not realize it at the time, until she finished and tried to leave the room that they had locked her inside the room. She said she was locked inside the room for about two hours. She was very upset about being locked inside the room and not being allowed to leave the room. Plus, because she was locked up she was late getting to church and was late to her birthday party. Becky said her mother was very upset that the police had locked her in a room and would not allow her to leave. Becky said as she was departing the police station, Tackett told her that there was no complaint file and that Garnet was in no trouble.

According to the KS bureau of investigation laboratory report they tested the seat covers from the car that the rape supposedly occurred. There was no seminal fluid detected.

According to the report of the women's clinic; obstetrics and gynecology after carefully reviewing the medical record it showed an excellent and thorough evaluation by the emergency room doctor. His findings were completely negative. There was absolutely no sign of any trauma. There was no evidence of any kind of forced intercourse or any sign of rape. In fact, according to the medical record the only proof that intercourse occurred is that she is pregnant. The clinic also wonder how underwear and pants can be removed in a small vehicle without any signs of abrasions, contusions or any other problems there that would definitely still be around as much as two weeks after the rape occurred.

During testimony Melissa says she was raped, but she went to work the next morning. She saw Garnet and when asked how she acted she said, “I acted normal.” “I didn't want him to know anything would go on. I was scared of what he would do, what he would say, and how he would act if he knew or thought I would report it or something.”

When asked if she thanked him for helping her the night before she said, “Yeah.”

When asked if she did anything else she said, “I gave him a hug.”