Judge: Defendant in Zan kidnapping not guilty

One of two men accused of sexual assault and kidnapping from Zan nightclub has been found not guilty.

Judge Calvin Holden handed down the verdict today.

"The court finds there was no evidence of sexual intercourse between (the alleged victim) and anyone else," Holden wrote in his ruling. "That neither (Ahmed Alanazi nor Rayan Alqabbaa) held (the woman) against her will in any physical way."

Alanazi, 27, was tried last month by Holden after Alanazi waived his right to a jury trial. At the completion of the trial, Holden took time to review hours of surveillance video from the night of the alleged kidnapping.

The alleged victim testified in court last month that Alanazi and another man, Alqabbaa, 22, took her from the club on June 1, 2013, against her will, took her to an apartment and sexually assaulted her.

Holden's ruling says the woman "does believe something did happen to her that night. However, the court finds (she) cannot reliably say what happened or who may have done something to her."

Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson said his staff is disappointed in the verdict and that they "disagree with the court's interpretation of the facts."

He also said he was disappointed prosecutors did not have the opportunity to make a closing statement.

"The way it was left, the court would review the videos and the prosecution and defense would be be notified of a date for closing arguments," Patterson said.

Instead, Holden reviewed the tape and handed down a ruling without scheduling another court date.

Alanazi's attorney, Dee Wampler, only said it was a "difficult and complicated case and Ahmed Alanazi appreciates the court's decision."

During the trial Wampler questioned the alleged victim's changing testimony, but the woman maintained her memory was improving since the night police found her in an apartment on Elm Street.

The woman said she believes she was given a drugged drink at Zan, and that contributed to her inability to remember what was happening or to effectively fight back against the men.

Wampler suggested the 100-pound woman was impaired because of the amount she had to drink that evening — about a dozen drinks over a roughly seven-hour period, according to testimony at the hearing — and because she was taking Percocet, which was prescribed to her after giving birth through a Caesarean section a little more than two weeks prior.

The woman confirmed, after Wampler asked, that she was drinking against a doctor's orders.

The woman said she's still unsure about all the details of the evening but is more clearly remembering many of the key moments, including the alleged assault.

She struggled to hold back tears as she described that part of the evening.

The ruling says the court found no evidence Alanazi was "anything other than polite to (the woman)" and that "the only evidence the court has, is the testimony of (the woman). (She) had consumed too much alcohol to remember how much she really drank. (She) had taken Percocet. (She) fell down while walking to Zan."

Prosecutors say a cab driver, Brian Newman, picked up the three people and noticed the woman was nearly unconscious and said she wanted to go home to Nixa, but that the men wanted to go to a Springfield apartment. He said he saw one of the men "throw (the woman) over his shoulder," drop her once, pick her back up and carry her inside.

He then called police to report what he'd seen.

Prosecutors said a responding officer searched the apartment, and was approached outside by Alanazi. The two went to an apartment where Alanazi knocked on the door. Prosecutor Ida Shafaie said the officer heard a woman moaning then asking for help, so the officer knocked on the door until it was opened. Alqabbaa and the woman were inside the room, the floor covered in vomit, Shafaie said.

She said the woman was "pleading" to be taken home and that she told officers the two men "are bad men."

Wampler said surveillance video shows the woman going in and out of Zan, and at one point talking with several foreign students outside.

Wampler also said video shows the woman going into an apartment nearby Zan with several people and coming out 20 minutes later, mostly unable to walk.

He said Alqabbaa and another person carried the woman from the apartment, while Alanazi walked behind them.

Alanazi was found not guilty of deviate sexual assault and kidnapping, both felonies.

Earlier this year, Alanazi and Alqabbaa each had a charge of forcible sodomy dropped.

Both have been free on bail since December, when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia posted a combined $2 million. $1.8 million of that bond is to be refunded to the Saudi Arabian consulate after Holden reduced each man's bond to $100,000.

Alqabbaa's trial is scheduled for August.