Marine backs off admission of rape

Kim Smith

Monday, Jan. 28, 2002 | 11:03 a.m.

A Marine who confessed to raping a Las Vegas woman last year after one of his colleagues was sent to prison for the crime has recanted his confession.

As a result of Ryan Fulton's change of heart, Deputy District Attorney William Kephart wants Raymond Flores re-arrested and thrown back in prison.

Flores, 23, was serving a sentence of 10 to 25 years in prison for the assault on the 32-year-old mother of three last year when Fulton's confession freed him. He is back on active duty with the Marine Corps, Kephart said.

A jury had convicted Flores of one count of sexual assault and acquitted him of a sodomy count because of a lack of physical evidence.

Fulton confessed to performing the act of which Flores was found not guilty. Last week, after a polygraph test in preparation for his guilty plea, Fulton said he had falsely confessed.

District Judge Kathy Hardcastle had freed Flores and asked the Nevada Supreme Court to overturn the verdict and return the case to her so she could conduct a new trial. She was expected to set a date soon.

According to a motion filed this morning, however, Kephart argues that Flores does not deserve a new trial and asks Hardcastle to have him instead remanded into custody.

Fulton was scheduled to plead guilty to the sexual assault last week in military court when he was ordered to undergo a polygraph, Kephart said. Fulton failed the test and when questioned, he said he had falsely confessed to the crime.

In a sworn affidavit dated Wednesday and attached to Kephart's motion, Fulton said he felt pressured into confessing by military authorities and friends of Flores, who threatened him.

"The only reason I confessed to (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) is because they kept accusing me and saying that they knew I was guilty, even without a DNA sample," Fulton wrote. "During the NCIS interrogation, they told me what happened that night in detail and I started to believe it."

More sophisticated DNA testing done by the military proves even more conclusively that Flores sexually assaulted the victim, Kephart writes in the motion.

Flores' future now lies in Hardcastle's hands.

If the judge decides not to set a new trial, Flores will be arrested and sent back to prison, Kephart said. If she grants him a new trial, the military will take him into custody and the state will appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Fulton's status is equally uncertain.

Not only does Fulton face sexual assault, perjury and drug charges in a military courtroom, he could still be tried for sexual assault and perjury in Clark County, Kephart said.

Although no DNA was found, there was evidence the victim was sodomized and Fulton did confess at one point, Kephart said. The perjury charge stems from Fulton testifying during Flores' trial that he knew nothing about the incident.

Kephart said that while the situation is frustrating to him, it must be far worse for the victim.

"I feel terrible for her," Kephart said. "I feel sickened about this. She put her faith in the system and let the jury decide."

Attempts this morning to reach Flores' attorney, Deputy Public Defender Dianne Dickson, were unsuccessful.