Raymond Davis has taken a plea deal. And so comes to a close a year and a half of bizarre legal wrangling.
Davis is a founding member of RealGrinders and is a tournament pro with $1.6 million in live cashes.
In April 2019, he was picked up on traffic violations. However, when he was run through the system, it threw up several outstanding warrants. The charges, dating from September 2016, included nine counts of sex crimes against multiple children. Three of these charges were felony charges. The remaining six counts were gross misdemeanors.
He was represented by Craig Mueller — a public defender — given a bail of $25,000, and sent home with an ankle monitor.
Contempt and contemptibility
When he came back to the court, things took a number of other strange turns.
In the first place, Davis opted to defend himself. Not only is it ill-advised to try and take on the law without a lawyer. It is still less advisable to couch your defense in ad hominem attacks on the judge and prosecutor.
Which he proceeded to do.
Davis alleged wrongdoing against both Judge Jacqueline Bluth and prosecutor Stacey Kollins. Things kicked-off in the courtroom, and Davis found himself back in jail. This time his bail was bumped from $25,000 to $500,000.
Unable to get together that much cash, he had to settle into life in a cell for a few more months.
In December 2019, he got Craig Mueller back as counsel. Then almost immediately, Davis filed to have him removed. The court said no.
Davis filed to be released from jail because of the coronavirus. The court said no.
He tried to get Mueller disbarred. The court said no again, but this time let Mueller off and threw a new defender into the ring, Adam Gill.
So naturally, Davis filed to defend himself. Getting the usual response from the court — an emphatic no.
A trying trial
After about a year and a half in jail, Davis finally got before a judge with a lawyer on hand to make his case for him.
The case was broadcast in a heavily redacted live stream, which can be viewed below.
Despite having a lawyer on hand, the case still makes for some wonky watching. Davis’s hostility to his own defense attorney is palpable through the screen. Judge Bluth makes it very clear that she will not be putting up with Davis going off the rails as with his previous appearances, though this doesn't stop him from kicking up a fuss about the racial make-up of the jury.
Davis turned down multiple plea deals to get before a jury. Within a few hours, he changed his mind.
More witnesses come forward
During opening statements, the prosecution laid out the charges in more detail.
The initial charges were brought by a girl, the primary victim, who was 13 at the time of the alleged crime in July 2014. She came from a low-income family. So she was was vulnerable to alleged offers of money from Davis. Allegedly she was sexually assaulted in return for this money.
The primary victim also alleged that he paid her to bring friends with her, one of who also leveled charges of sexual assault.
During the investigation, several more accusers came forward.
A homeless woman claimed she was offered financial assistance for sexual favors from herself and her 13-year-old companion. Two other accusers aged 14 and 15 claimed they were offered hotel rooms in exchange for sex. A pattern appeared to be forming.
Having heard the prosecution’s opening statement, Davis folded. He didn’t need to see any further evidence and took the plea deal.
In exchange for his admission of guilt, he was given time served and the charges were dropped to contributing to the misdemeanor delinquency of a minor (the primary victim) and felony coercion of the primary victim’s friend.
Coda
Davis came out of court and immediately told the newspapers and Facebook that he was innocent.
The whole thing was a stitch-up in his view. He also indicated that he would be suing at the very least: the judge, the sheriff, and two of the lawyers. All to the tune of around $10 million total.
He intends to become an activist, for all those others who are "falsely" accused in the poker community. Someone should put him in touch with Mike Postle and Jeffery Morris.
Featured image: Twitter
