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Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday in the sexual assault trial of a former Bryan High ROTC instructor accused of having a long-term sexual relationship with one of his students.
Jurors are expected to begin deliberations concerning the two sexual assault charges against Ricky Ray James on Thursday. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for each count.
Prosecutors said James, 50, began secretly taking the student to his apartment for sex when she was a 15-year-old sophomore and continued the rendezvous into the following school year.
But defense attorneys Cameron Reynolds and Craig Greening have suggested that the teen -- now 17 -- lied about a relationship after an over-protective and suspicious mother pressured her to make an outcry.
The two declined to make an opening statement after prosecutors rested Wednesday afternoon. They did, however, call two of James' colleagues to the witness stand -- one to briefly speak about his reputation and another to impugn the accuser's.
Maj. Anthony Reinberg, who also serves as an instructor for Bryan High's Air Force Junior ROTC program, said he still trusts James. Teacher Eve Wallace said the teen was close to her and had confided that her mother put her up to filing false charges.
The teen, who had testified the day earlier, denied having such a conversation with Wallace. Prosecutors Brian Price and Cory Crenshaw pointed out Wednesday that Wallace appears to be a close friend of the defendant. They suggested that the teacher had taken sides and was inserting herself into the investigation -- an allegation she denied.
Attorneys on both sides spent the bulk of Wednesday morning questioning the teen's mother. With six daughters, she has reason to be protective, the woman said. But she did not encourage anyone to lie and she has no interest in ruining an innocent person's life, she said.
"I'm going to do what's right," she said.
The mother said she first became suspicious when she came home one afternoon to find James dropping her daughter off in his sport utility vehicle. The family lived only a few blocks from the school, she said, adding that she also found it strange the instructor was calling her daughter by what appeared to be a pet name.
"Do not bring my daughter home anymore," she recalled telling James in a polite but firm voice. "Do not put her in your car. I will take care of that."
But a short time later, she said, she went to look for her daughter one afternoon at a nearby church where she was being tutored and was told James had taken her daughter home. After that, she said, she and her husband asked James to stop by their home so they could talk again.
"I respect your success -- a black man in your position, you have done well for yourself," she recalled telling James that time. But the compliment came with a warning: Continuing to give her daughter rides will lead to trouble.
"I'm the type of mother, I fight for my children," she recalled saying.
James took her daughter home one more time after that, the mother said, before she was able to convince her daughter to slowly admit to the relationship.
Prosecutors also called to the witness stand the owner and an employee of a day care center close to the high school. Both described watching the teen stand in their parking lot on multiple occasions. The occurrences struck them as odd, both women said, explaining that they also observed a man matching James' description pick the teen up in an SUV.
It did not appear the teen was getting a ride from a relative, the women said.
The prosecution's final witness Wednesday was another former Bryan High student who said James once suggestively shook her hand, commented on her looks and he told her she could stay at his apartment one time when she was kicked out of her mother's house.
But the woman also said she never thought much of the incidents. She acknowledged that she was only testifying because prosecutors had issued a subpoena ordering her to do so.
• Craig Kapitan's e-mail address is craig.kapitan@theeagle.com.
