Trial Halted After Victim Doesn’t Show

For want of a victim, Ericka Clemons gets a break.

Clemons was supposed to stand trial Thursday in Spokane County Superior Court on first-degree kidnapping and residential burglary charges.

But because the nervous victim couldn’t be found, Deputy Prosecutor Ed Hay agreed to reduce the charges and scrap the trial.

Instead of facing a possible prison sentence, Clemons is set to plead guilty next week to third-degree assault, punishable by three to eight months in jail.

She was one of five people charged in connection with the April 1994 kidnapping, assault and robbery of 22-year-old Jerry Clark.

Clark was abducted and imprisoned in a South Thor residence over a drug-related debt, authorities said.

He managed to escape his captors and flag down a passing school bus. His hands were bound and his face bloodied.

Since then, four co-defendants in the case have pleaded guilty to various charges.

Timothy Taie, 28, was sentenced last month to seven years in prison for first-degree kidnapping.

Gregory Harker, 31, and Gary Carter, 24, have pleaded guilty to lesser charges and are awaiting sentencing. Richard Ruston, 25, was sentenced to eight months in jail for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Defense attorney John Rodgers said the plea bargain makes sense because Clemons’ involvement in the kidnapping “was genuinely minimal.”

As for the victim’s disappearing act, Hay said he isn’t surprised.

“He was convinced he was going to face retribution,” the prosecutor said.

, DataTimes