Fate Of Accused Rapist Now In Hands Of Jury

By Nate Morabito
Reporter / WJHL
Published: December 4, 2008

The fate of a man accused of violently raping his wheelchair-bound girlfriend is now in the hands of a jury. Nicholas Tipton faces aggravated rape charges from a September 2007 attack in a room at the Best Western Motel in Johnson City. Jurors will resume deliberations Friday morning. They deliberated for just an hour Thursday night before calling it a day, but not before both Tipton and the woman he planned on marrying took the stand. In court, it was a tale of two stories. On one side, the woman, who is paralyzed from the waist down thanks to a car accident six years ago, who claims her ex-boyfriend raped and beat her. On the other, the accused rapist, who says he committed a crime, but not rape.

“He kept saying, ‘I’m going to jail, I’ll do whatever I want to do,‘“ the victim, who will remain unnamed for her protection, told jurors.

Sitting in her wheelchair, she vividly described a brutal rape.

“He grabbed me by the throat and made me close my eyes,“ the woman said.

Unable to fight back, she said Tipton took advantage of her in every way possible.

“He choked me very hard,“ she said. “I could barely breathe and I said, ‘Please, why are you doing this to me? Please. Why? I love you. Why are you doing this?‘“ she recalled.

After a night of drinking, she checked into a motel room, while Tipton went out for more drinks. She told jurors since Tipton is violent when he drinks, she asked him to leave her alone for the night. However, according to her, he didn’t listen. She told the jury Tipton found his way into her room and raped her.

In court, Tipton admitted the two had sex, but passionate consensual sex. In fact, he told jurors the woman welcomed him into her room when he came knocking. As for her bumps and bruises, Tipton told the jury after sex, the woman started arguing with him, upset that he stayed out drinking instead of going to bed with her.

“She bit my right pinky and that’s when I smacked her the first time,“ Tipton said.

From there, he admitted to beating and choking the woman, but nothing more.

“We argued a whole lot and I continued to smack her,“ Tipton said. “I smacked her across the face and I smacked her down on her forehead…I know what I did was wrong. I for one shouldn’t be hitting a lady. Number two, I shouldn’t be hitting a lady in a wheelchair, but I did not rape (her) that night.“

Wednesday, Tipton pleaded guilty to vandalism in connection to this case. In court Thursday, he explained that plea. He told jurors he broke two phones inside the motel room in an effort to prevent his girlfriend from calling for help.

If convicted of aggravated rape, Tipton faces 15 to 25 years in prison.