Reporter testifies in man’s rape trial

A defense attorney called a reporter for The Spokesman-Review to testify Monday in the trial of Spokane businessman Arlin Jordin, who is accused of rape and indecent liberties.

Jordin may testify in his own defense, possibly as early as this afternoon, his attorney Bevan Maxey said at the end of testimony Monday.

At the outset of the defense case, Maxey subpoenaed reporter Thomas Clouse to testify about interviews he conducted in 2004 with two women who said they began feeling strange after accepting hard liquor drinks during separate encounters with Jordin.

Initially, the defense attorney was going to ask the reporter to identify the two women, who had been given a guarantee of confidentiality during separate interviews with the newspaper.

Superior Court Judge Neal Rielly on Monday declined a request from newspaper attorney Tracy N. LeRoy to issue a protective order that would have blocked the defense attorney from asking Clouse to identify the confidential sources quoted in a December 2004 article about Jordin.

But after the newspaper attorney said she was prepared to appeal the judge’s ruling to the state Court of Appeals and possibly delay the trial, a compromise was reached.

Clouse testified about the accuracy of the news story he wrote, including quotes from the two women, but wasn’t asked to identify them on the witness stand.

LeRoy said the compromise allowed the newspaper to stand by its privilege to protect the identities of sources granted confidentiality by its reporters.

At a hearing with the jury out of the courtroom, the defense attorney argued that both women quoted in Clouse’s article had testified at the trial and that he needed Clouse’s testimony so he could compare their testimony to what they told Clouse.

Besides the victim of the alleged rape, Deputy Prosecutor John Love called three other women in an attempt to show Jordin was involved in a “common scheme or plan.”

The three women said they were victims of unwanted sexual advances or sexual contact after becoming dizzy or unconscious after accepting drinks at Jordin’s apartment in west Spokane.

The third of those women testified Monday and told the jury she “blacked out” and woke up partially undressed in Jordin’s bed after accepting a glass of wine from him in August 2003.

Under cross-examination by the defense attorney, the witness said she didn’t report the incident to police until December 2004, after she read a newspaper article about various women who were making similar claims against Jordin.

The first defense witness was the defendant’s 25-year-old daughter, Holly Jordin, who said her father “loves being a host” and routinely offers his guests food or drink. His specialty, she said, is a recipe for margaritas he obtained after a visit to Mexico.