Decapitated - Members Formally Charged With Rape, Release Statement (Update)
UPDATE: Two more members of the Polish death metal band Decapitated have been charged with rape and kidnapping in Spokane. After Wacław Kiełtyka (Vogg) and Michał Łysejko were previously charged with rape and kidnapping, now Rafał Piotrowski and Hubert Więcek, the vocalist and bassist of the band, had their first court appearance in Spokane County on Friday for allegedly participating in a gang rape of a woman on their tour bus in Spokane on August 31st.
With the aid of a Polish translator, Judge John Cooney communicated the charges of first-degree kidnapping and second-degree rape to Piotrowski and first-degree kidnapping and third-degree rape to Więcek.
The band has been in Spokane County Jail after being extradited from California. They were arrested September 9th in Santa Ana in connection with the case and formally charged on October 12th.
Attorney Jeffry Finer, who represents Piotrowski, said the men will be pursuing bail, but are waiting on documents from Poland to "impress the court," which could take over a week.
"Among this group, there are a number of advanced degrees and zero criminal history," Finer said.
Stay tuned for more updates on the case.
Original news, published on 14.10.2017: The members of Polish death metal band Decapitated, who have cancelled all touring plans, have been formally charged with rape in Spokane County, The Spokesman Review reports. On Friday, Spokane Superior Court Judge Annette Plese communicated rape and kidnapping charges through a Polish translator. Wacław Kiełtyka (Vogg) and Michał Łysejko, members of the band, listened to the charges during their first court appearance in Spokane County. They stand accused of gang raping a woman on their tour bus August 31st, following a show at The Pin in downtown Spokane.
All four of the band's members were arrested in Los Angeles on September 9th and subsequently charged on October 12th.
Decapitated's other two members, lead singer Rafał Piotrowski and bassist Hubert Więcek , are scheduled for a first court appearance October 19th in Spokane. Piatrowski is charged with second-degree rape and Wiecek is charged with third-degree rape.
On Friday, Kiełtyka, 35, the band's guitarist, was charged with first-degree kidnapping and second-degree rape. Łysejko, a 27-year-old drummer, was charged with first-degree kidnapping and third-degree rape.
Kieltyka and Łysejko's bonds were set at $100,000 and both men were ordered to surrender their passports to their attorneys.
Plese also ordered no communication between the band members. Kieltyka's attorney, Stephen Graham, said that restriction would be deemed inhumane by international law.
"If they are kept apart they, in essence, will be held in solitary confinement," Graham said. "Because they don't speak English very well."
Graham noted that the men had already been together for a month following their arrest in California. The prosecution noted that Kieltyka and Łysejko had no criminal history in America but don't know of their criminal history in Europe.
According to court documents, two women told police they were invited onto the tour bus following the show. The alleged victim of the rape said that, after talking for some time, she went into the bus' bathroom where she was "grabbed and spun around to where she was facing the sink and mirror in the bathroom," and subsequently raped by each of the members of the band.
The other woman told police that she was able to escape after kicking one of the band members in the groin. The band members' legal representation has previously said that they can produce witnesses who can dispute that account.
In the same police report, a volunteer at The Pin said that after the show and before they were in the bus, the two women were "groping" and "all over" the lead singer and another member of the band. He also told police after clearing more equipment out of the venue that he saw through the bus doors one woman chugging a clear liquid, which he believed to be alcohol.
The alleged victim's friend, who left the bus, was stopped later that night for a DUI, according to the report. The Washington State Trooper who made the stop said the woman never mentioned a rape while she was being arrested or while being taken into custody.
"She spoke to someone on the phone and then said to him that her friend was raped by five men downtown," police wrote in court documents.
Detectives noted the victim had "significant bruising to her upper arms consistent with being restrained" and "small abrasions to her knuckles that were scabbed over," according to the police report.
Kiełtyka told California detectives he saw both Piotrowski and Wiecek engaged in a sex acts with the woman in the bathroom and agreed to a DNA test, according to court documents. Łysejko told detectives that he didn't know who the girls were, court documents said. Piotrowski admitted there was a party on the bus with women present, but declined to give a DNA sample. Wiecek told authorities that the women were on the bus, but that he was sitting on the couch and didn't see what was going on. He also declined a DNA sample.
All four band members have different attorneys.
(Ryan Collingwood / The Spokesman Review)
The band posted this statement today on their Facebook page: "An update - following extradition from California to Washington, the band has now been charged. We'd like to emphasise; the Spokane Police Department has pressed charges as procedural formality, without doing so, they would be forced to release band - this is not a conviction or any indication of guilt or innocence. Once again, we ask that everyone wait for each party's case to be presented and await the court's decision. With that said, whilst cases are being prepared on both sides, some facts are indisputable at this point - that the original officer who took the complaint from the accuser stated, 'I do not have probable cause that a rape occurred', and it's taken a full 30 days to file charges, which is right up against the point at which the defendants would legally have had to be released. The band firmly refutes the allegations and are confident that once the facts and evidence have been seen and heard, they will be released and able to return home. Individuals who were present on the night in question with information about the case are asked to reach out to the defense lawyer, Steve Graham of Spokane, Washington."
With the aid of a Polish translator, Judge John Cooney communicated the charges of first-degree kidnapping and second-degree rape to Piotrowski and first-degree kidnapping and third-degree rape to Więcek.
The band has been in Spokane County Jail after being extradited from California. They were arrested September 9th in Santa Ana in connection with the case and formally charged on October 12th.
Attorney Jeffry Finer, who represents Piotrowski, said the men will be pursuing bail, but are waiting on documents from Poland to "impress the court," which could take over a week.
"Among this group, there are a number of advanced degrees and zero criminal history," Finer said.
Stay tuned for more updates on the case.
Original news, published on 14.10.2017: The members of Polish death metal band Decapitated, who have cancelled all touring plans, have been formally charged with rape in Spokane County, The Spokesman Review reports. On Friday, Spokane Superior Court Judge Annette Plese communicated rape and kidnapping charges through a Polish translator. Wacław Kiełtyka (Vogg) and Michał Łysejko, members of the band, listened to the charges during their first court appearance in Spokane County. They stand accused of gang raping a woman on their tour bus August 31st, following a show at The Pin in downtown Spokane.
All four of the band's members were arrested in Los Angeles on September 9th and subsequently charged on October 12th.
Decapitated's other two members, lead singer Rafał Piotrowski and bassist Hubert Więcek , are scheduled for a first court appearance October 19th in Spokane. Piatrowski is charged with second-degree rape and Wiecek is charged with third-degree rape.
On Friday, Kiełtyka, 35, the band's guitarist, was charged with first-degree kidnapping and second-degree rape. Łysejko, a 27-year-old drummer, was charged with first-degree kidnapping and third-degree rape.
Kieltyka and Łysejko's bonds were set at $100,000 and both men were ordered to surrender their passports to their attorneys.
Plese also ordered no communication between the band members. Kieltyka's attorney, Stephen Graham, said that restriction would be deemed inhumane by international law.
"If they are kept apart they, in essence, will be held in solitary confinement," Graham said. "Because they don't speak English very well."
Graham noted that the men had already been together for a month following their arrest in California. The prosecution noted that Kieltyka and Łysejko had no criminal history in America but don't know of their criminal history in Europe.
According to court documents, two women told police they were invited onto the tour bus following the show. The alleged victim of the rape said that, after talking for some time, she went into the bus' bathroom where she was "grabbed and spun around to where she was facing the sink and mirror in the bathroom," and subsequently raped by each of the members of the band.
The other woman told police that she was able to escape after kicking one of the band members in the groin. The band members' legal representation has previously said that they can produce witnesses who can dispute that account.
In the same police report, a volunteer at The Pin said that after the show and before they were in the bus, the two women were "groping" and "all over" the lead singer and another member of the band. He also told police after clearing more equipment out of the venue that he saw through the bus doors one woman chugging a clear liquid, which he believed to be alcohol.
The alleged victim's friend, who left the bus, was stopped later that night for a DUI, according to the report. The Washington State Trooper who made the stop said the woman never mentioned a rape while she was being arrested or while being taken into custody.
"She spoke to someone on the phone and then said to him that her friend was raped by five men downtown," police wrote in court documents.
Detectives noted the victim had "significant bruising to her upper arms consistent with being restrained" and "small abrasions to her knuckles that were scabbed over," according to the police report.
Kiełtyka told California detectives he saw both Piotrowski and Wiecek engaged in a sex acts with the woman in the bathroom and agreed to a DNA test, according to court documents. Łysejko told detectives that he didn't know who the girls were, court documents said. Piotrowski admitted there was a party on the bus with women present, but declined to give a DNA sample. Wiecek told authorities that the women were on the bus, but that he was sitting on the couch and didn't see what was going on. He also declined a DNA sample.
All four band members have different attorneys.
(Ryan Collingwood / The Spokesman Review)
The band posted this statement today on their Facebook page: "An update - following extradition from California to Washington, the band has now been charged. We'd like to emphasise; the Spokane Police Department has pressed charges as procedural formality, without doing so, they would be forced to release band - this is not a conviction or any indication of guilt or innocence. Once again, we ask that everyone wait for each party's case to be presented and await the court's decision. With that said, whilst cases are being prepared on both sides, some facts are indisputable at this point - that the original officer who took the complaint from the accuser stated, 'I do not have probable cause that a rape occurred', and it's taken a full 30 days to file charges, which is right up against the point at which the defendants would legally have had to be released. The band firmly refutes the allegations and are confident that once the facts and evidence have been seen and heard, they will be released and able to return home. Individuals who were present on the night in question with information about the case are asked to reach out to the defense lawyer, Steve Graham of Spokane, Washington."
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