The sex trafficking and witness tampering trial of a former high school and college athlete got off to a late start Wednesday after only 30 jurors showed up to the federal courthouse in Little Rock out of 41 who were summoned for the jury pool, necessitating a series of phone calls and emails from the clerk's office to prospective jurors to round out the pool.
Deonte Womack, 48, was initially indicted in February 2020 on one count of witness tampering after Little Rock police contacted federal authorities regarding a woman who reported she had been "severely beaten" and "severely prostituted" by Womack for several months and said she "wanted out" but was afraid of him. Last July, Womack was arraigned on a superseding indictment that added three counts of sex trafficking against him. He has been held in federal custody since he was denied bail by a U.S. magistrate judge in February 2020.
Womack, a 1993 graduate of Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, was a star running back for SMU between 1993 and 1997 and led the Mustangs to wins over the Arkansas Razorbacks in 1995, 1996 and 1997, including a 212-yard performance in 1997 when SMU beat Arkansas 31-9.
Womack is accused of forcing three women -- identified in the indictment as"J.G." "A.B." and "T.S." -- into working for him as prostitutes and, when threatened with prosecution, attempting to coerce the minor son of one of the victims -- identified in the indictment as "D.J." -- into lying to investigators.
During a pre-trial conference Wednesday morning, just minutes before jury selection was to begin, U.S. District Judge Brian Miller outlined the problem to attorneys for both sides.
"First thing I want to say is we don't have a jury," said Miller, as he opened the hearing. "In fact, I have the jury clerk trying to get some more jurors up here because I think at last count we only had 30 show up. Even if we don't strike anyone for cause that still doesn't give us enough to get a jury plus an alternate."
After settling some pre-trial motions regarding witness testimony, Miller said he had been told by the Federal Clerk's office that an additional four jurors would arrive by 11:30 Wednesday morning, "and they're trying to round up more."
By noon, the time jury selection was set to begin, the jury pool had expanded to 39 people, which was two short of the original 41 selected for the pool, according to Jury Administrator Shauna Bostic.
Under federal law, failure to respond to a jury summons can trigger a range of sanctions. Failure to respond or report may lead the court to issue an order to the United States Marshal to have you brought before a judge to explain your noncompliance. Any person who fails to show good cause for noncompliance with a summons may be subject to a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment for up to three days, community service, or any combination of the three.
"Ultimately," Bostic said, "they would have to go before the judge to explain why they didn't answer."
In Arkansas' eastern district, U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson is the "jury judge" who decides matters related to members of the jury pool.
Jury selection was completed by 3 p.m., with seven woman and five men chosen to hear the case along with one alternate. Following brief opening statements by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant and Womack's defense counsel, John Wesley Hall Jr. of Little Rock, testimony began at a brisk pace as the government's first four witnesses -- Little Rock Police Department vice detective Ray Koonce, and FBI special agents Carrie Landau, Daniel Turner and Emily Peters -- were on and off of the witness stand by 4:30, at which point Miller broke for the day.
Koonce, who was part of the team that arrested "A.B." during a July 2019 sting operation at the Wingate Hotel in Little Rock, described how the operation, which began the unraveling of the prostitution ring, unfolded. He said members of his team were perusing internet personal ads looking for clues that the ads were fronts for prostitution, including Little Rock detective David Bratton, who contacted a phone number for "Dahlia Doll" via an adult personals website.
After arranging a meeting, Koonce said, the team set up audio recording devices and sent Bratton to the hotel room for the meeting.
"He arrived and once the person told him what room to go to he walked up the stairs and knocked on the door and was greeted by a female later identified as A.B," he said. "She answered the door and she was totally nude, she gave him a hug, he entered the hotel room and he gave her cash money."
The cash money, Koonce said, was $400, ostensibly for the arranged price of $350 and a $50 "tip."
"He asked what that entailed," he said. "She said straight sex and oral sex. Once she verbalized that he gave the signal for the arrest team to enter."
Turner testified that in November 2019, he was contacted by Amber Kalmer with the Little Rock Police Department and asked to assist with the case. He said in January 2020, Womack was pulled over by Bryant police and cited for driving without a license and no insurance, and following a search that turned up six cell phones, his car was towed.
Handed six clear baggies, each containing a cell phone, Turner identified them as the phones taken from Womack. Turner said on two occasions in January and February 2020 he interviewed J.G., who told him who the phones taken into evidence were assigned to. He said he also interviewed D.J., J.G.'s son, as well as T.S. during the same time period.
Following a sidebar, Peters, questioned by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katie Hinojosa, described online searches for address and phone information on Womack and J.G. -- who prosecutors said was involved in a 12-year relationship with Womack to the point that her son even referred to him as "Dad," -- and for online personal ads related to their phone numbers on adult dating websites including EroticMonkey, AdultLook and Escort-Ads. She said she looked up associated ads for the names "Dahlia Doll," "Torie Touch," "Cartier," "Danielle," "Amber Waves," "Angelina Buxom," and "Mindy Magic."
As the ads were pulled up for the jury Peters described them for the jury.
"Did any of those ads tell you who created the ad?" asked Hall, during a brief cross-examination.
"No," said Peters.
"Is there a way to find that out by backtracking through the company who posted the ad?" he asked.
"You could send a subpoena and get an IP address from the company," Peters said.
"That would just tell you who had the router," Hall said. "It wouldn't tell you who did it."
Testimony resumes at 8:30 this morning with A.B., one of Womack's three alleged sex trafficking victims, taking the stand. Bryant said she anticipates closing the government's case sometime around mid-day today.