A Wisconsin woman who was allegedly held as a sex slave in Brooklyn, was suffering “severe” alcohol poisoning when she alleged she was raped — and may not come back to testify, it was revealed today.
John Hopkins was arrested in February after the woman, who had previously had a consensual S&M relationship with him, was found curled in the fetal position and chained to a radiator in his Williamsburg apartment.
But defense lawyer Andrew Stoll said that the woman’s blood alcohol content was two and a half times the legal limit to drive, more than four hours after she went to the hospital, where records noted she was suffering from a “severe degree of [alcohol] poisoning.”
The woman has been treated for alcohol dependency and withdrawal and has failed to show up for several court dates, delaying the start of the trial, Stoll said.
Prosecutor Christina Fay said the alleged victim had left town.
“Is she coming back?” asked Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Patricia DiMango.
There was no answer.
“You don’t know?” DiMango said.
Both sides agree on many of the facts of the case, including a consensual relationship that included a “huge array of what some would consider deviant sexual practices,” said DiMango, who is famous for cracking the whip at sullen or disrespectful defendants.
But, the jurist added, “I’m not expert in this area.”
Stoll asked DiMango to reduce Hopkins’ $350,000 bail based on the unreliability of the alleged victim.
She initially offered to drop the bail to $200,000 cash or a $350,000 bond, but left the higher bail in effect after Stoll called it “punitive.”
DiMango ordered the case back for trial in two weeks and asked Fay whether she would have the alleged victim in court to testify.
Fay, sounding less than confident that she could conjure up the complaint, said, “I will almost make every effort to try.”