Jurors will decide this week whether the actions of a man and his daughter were a desperate attempt to reform a troubled husband or a felonious criminal conspiracy, the Argus Leader reports.
Craig Olson of Canton, USA and Oriana Groppetti of Visalia, California, USA, each face third-degree kidnapping charges and a charge of assault while committing a felony for allegedly conspiring to hold Derek Groppetti in two Lyon County grain bins on July 22.
Derek Groppetti called 911 after escaping from one empty grain bin that morning, telling sheriff’s deputies and a state trooper he’d been kidnapped and “locked” inside by his father-in-law, and that he was worried he’d be locked in a second bin.
Defence lawyers assert that the case amounts to prosecutorial overreach in what was clearly a family dispute.
Derek Groppetti testified Thursday that he never felt he’d been kidnapped, that he never felt threatened, and that he’d simply called police in hopes of getting a ride to the airport.
The prosecution rested its case Friday, the third day of arguments, after playing a video of an interview with Oriana Groppetti.
Her father was arrested on kidnapping charges shortly after deputies arrived, but she wasn’t charged until three days later, after deputies scoured her iPad for messages.
Prosecutor Cole McAllister said the messages showed that she’d conspired with her father and her mother-in-law in California to create a “smokescreen” story to persuade Derek Groppetti to get back into a vehicle with his wife after he’d climbed out of the first grain bin.
The story involved the California parents flying into Iowa to pick him up, McAllister said.
“They were talking about him going to a relative’s house, when really he was going to be confined for two or three days,” McAllister said.
Oriana Groppetti’s lawyer, Scott Rhinehart, told the judge that prosecutors were overplaying the significance of the messages between family members.
“That’s mostly joking around: 10-4, rubber ducky … kidnappers don’t talk like that,” Rhinehart said.
Rhinehart and Olson’s lawyer, Alfred Willett, asked Judge Carl Peterson to dismiss the case Friday, saying the evidence was too flimsy to send to the jury.
The family was trying to get the attention of a married man who’d committed adultery and struggled with alcohol abuse, the defense contends. Derek Groppetti noted on the witness stand Thursday that his brothers did an “intervention” with him once he returned to California.
The family’s reaction to Derek Groppetti’s behavior was not a kidnapping, Rhinehart said. The first grain bin was never locked, and the alleged victim didn’t even get into the second one.
“Mr Groppetti was absolutely clear: He was not a victim of anything,” Rhinehart said. “This may be a bad situation. It might be a lot of stupid stuff. But it’s not a kidnapping.”
Derek Groppetti said he wasn’t scared of his father-in-law, Willett pointed out. Olson never struck him or threatened to strike him, either — even when provoked to the night before the grain bin incident.
Olson had referred to the incident as an “adult time out,” Willett said.
Judge Peterson dismissed the jury Friday afternoon so the lawyers could hammer out final jury instructions. The jury is expected to hear those instructions Monday morning, followed by closing arguments.
Read the original article HERE.
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