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Sam Obeghe was a 24-year-old economics student at University of Salford located in Greater Manchester. But things changed that year when he was accused of raping a 21-year-old shop assistant at his apartment after a drunken night out. The woman — who was also drunk — claimed that she had been at the apartment earlier to hookup with Obeghe’s roommate Zack Garrigan, 22, and believed that it was Garrigan she was having sex with. Both men are pictured above (Garrigan on the left, Obeghe on the right).
After running her hands through his hair, the anonymous woman realized it was the wrong man, fled the apartment, and told police she was raped. Three hours later, Obeghe was arrested in his pajamas.
After waiting 17 months before he faced a trial, Obeghe — now 26 — finally got his name cleared. He was unanimously acquitted of all charges on Wednesday after a 27-minute deliberation.
This is one of the craziest stories I’ve heard in a while, especially considering the one glaring difference between the two men: their skin color. How can you confuse them? They literally look nothing alike. But according to trial documents, the “victim” claimed the room was pitch black and therefore couldn’t see the difference.
But the full story makes the whole incident surprisingly murky. From Telegraph,
The two women met Mr Obeghe and Mr Garrigan in the Vogue bar and in the early hours of the morning the four of them, plus another man went to the student’s flat in the Heaton area of the town.
Mr Obeghe – who had not been drinking – gave the party a lift in his BMW but once they got back Miss X and Mr Garrigan began kissing headed into the accused man’s bedroom for sex.
The woman said she and Mr Garrigan did not have intercourse and she fell asleep whilst he went into the lounge to try to find some Viagra.
But she told the court she was subsequently woken by a man she thought was Mr Garrigan in the bed and they began having sex.
She said: “I was saying Zack’s name because I thought it was him I was having sex with. The person hugging and kissing me didn’t feel any different.
“I thought this was Zack, I called his name four or five times. It went on for a couple of minutes until I put my hands through his hair and realised it was not Zack but was Sam. I was screaming ‘what are you doing’ he ran out of the room.
“I was embarrassed and ran out. Zack was asking what was wrong, I was just saying that I needed to get out.”
From there, the woman went to the police. But Obeghe’s version of the story gives new perspective — and almost describes an entirely different evening.
“I could tell she was drunk – her and Zack were the same,” he said during the trial. “Music was playing and they were kissing and then went into my bedroom. I sat there thinking ‘what have I done’ bringing them back here because I had work the next day. I saw Zack coming out, first naked and I was saying ‘come on I need to go to bed.’ I asked him ‘are you guys leaving?’ but he was not really paying attention to what I was saying and I said ‘I’m going to go and get her out.'”
He continued: “I walked into the bedroom sat on the bed and started nudging the woman saying ‘go and meet Zack in the living room’. At first I lay there thinking ‘finally I can go to bed’ but she grabbed me. I was just thinking ‘I didn’t really want to have sex with her’ but I’m a human being and if you get touched like that you have a motivation to move on. I figured she was probably very drunk but she grabbed me saying ‘come on Zack’ then I realised she’s thinking I’m Zack so I jumped off the bed and jumped out of the room. I went into the living room and told Zack: ‘Man you will not believe what she’s just done’. Zack was sort of laughing and then I saw her storming out and she was screaming. I was in shock. I didn’t climb on top of her and kiss her.”
After the not guilty verdict was announced, Obeghe was holding back tears and found himself in too much distress to comment on his freedom. But his lawyer Sarah Johnson came to his aid.
“We are not suggesting this is a wicked woman telling a wicked pack of lies – but she couldn’t remember everything that happened in that bedroom,” she explained. “She’s not someone you can say is accurate and reliable. She said the room was pitch black and she couldn’t see anything, despite the defendant being of a different ethnicity, having different features and a different voice.”
She has a point — and clearly the jury saw it in a similar light. What do you think of the case? Sound off in the comments below.
[H/T: Telegraph]
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