The top results of a Google search for “Ralph Williams of Orangeburg” notify the world that he was arrested for attempting to rape a mentally handicapped patient at an assisted living facility where he worked.
But the results leave out a big piece of the story, namely that Williams was acquitted of all criminal charges and a civil jury recently awarded him $1 million in actual and punitive damages for defamation.
“He’s trying to get jobs. He really can’t. Then some guy beat his [butt],” said an attorney for Williams, Robin Foster of an eponymous firm in Greenville. “People are calling him a rapist. He can’t go out into town.”
Williams was working the third shift as a certified nursing assistant at UniHealth Post-Acute Care in Orangeburg during the summer of 2010, when a supervisor walked in on him changing an invalid female resident’s diaper.
The supervisor, Patricia Johnson, immediately left the room, found another nurse, Josette Peppers, and told her that she’d just seen Williams on top of a patient and trying to have sex with her, according to Foster. He said the two nurses returned to the room, told Williams to leave and then called the police.
According to Foster, Johnson and Williams did not get along, primarily because he had criticized her work performance in the past. At trial he accused Johnson of reckless indifference, because the insurance policy at play did not cover intentional acts, which would be outside the scope of employment, he said.
Foster added that police investigators were unable to find any DNA evidence to support Johnson’s allegation. But he was unable to tell the jury about the criminal trial or its outcome due to on an evidentiary ruling from the trial judge, Edgar Dickson.
He was, however, able to introduce into evidence the early newspaper coverage of the accusation against Williams. He also made it apparent to the jury that Williams was walking free in the community with the hope that they would connect the dots.
During the trial, Foster also asserted that the facility should not have asked male staffers to change female patients’ diapers – a policy that he said had made Williams uncomfortable prior to the incident.
“They set up the very situation that turned out to be a disaster,” Foster said.
Following a five-day trial and five hours of deliberation, the jury on Sept. 9 awarded $102,500 in actual damages to Williams. They also found that he was owed punitive damages from Johnson, Peppers and the facility in the amounts of $200,000, $97,500 and $600,000, respectively.
“He was accused of raping a person with feces and urine on her, one of the most horrific things that you can essentially accuse a person of,” said another attorney for Williams, Java Warren of an eponymous firm in Charlotte. “He went through the ordeal of a criminal trial and then he wanted to have his name cleared. He wanted justice.”
Jason Bring and Tyler Arnold of Arnall Golden Gregory in Atlanta represented the defendants. Bring wrote in an email that they were “optimistic that, through post-trial motions, the verdict will be vacated or substantially reduced before the entry of a judgment.” He declined further comment.
As for Williams, he continues to grapple with the aftermath of the rape allegation four years after the fact. Foster said he has been fired from a string of restaurant jobs as a result of his arrest and cannot seem to shake the rapist label.
“They don’t publish acquittals like they do arrests,” he added.
Alocal TV news station followed up on the original 216-word story on the charges against Williams with a 55-word report on his acquittal. The latter piece does not show up in the first few pages of Google search results for Williams.
Follow Phillip Bantz on Twitter @SCLWBantz
DEFAMATION – SLANDER
Case name: Williams v. UniHealth Post-Acute Care Orangeburg, et al.
Court: Orangeburg County Circuit Court
Judge: Edgar Dickson
Date of verdict: Sept. 9
Amount: $1 million
Attorneys for plaintiff: Robin Foster of the Foster Law Firm, Greenville, and Java Warren, Charlotte
Attorneys for defendants: Jason Bring and Tyler Arnold of Arnall Golden Gregory, Atlanta