A white woman whose rape charges against two black men were dismissed by a grand jury claims the video evidence that exonerated them was edited.
Amanda Zawieruszynski, 40, accused her neighbor John Marks, 41, of raping her on November 8 last year, along with his friend, police officer Freddie Douglas, 43.
The mother of three claimed the couple forced her to have a threesome in the pool of Marks’ home in Manvel, just outside Houston.
Marks and Douglas were arrested last December, but the aggravated rape and kidnapping charges were dismissed by a grand jury in May after footage from Marks’ home security system cleared them.
The men accused her of racism. They said her claims were an attempt to invoke white privilege to put them behind bars.
But Zawieruszynski insisted her rape claims were true, and filed her own lawsuit on August 26, seeking more than $1 million in damages.
Amanda Zawieruszynski, 40, whose rape claim against two black men was dismissed by a grand jury, stands by her story and claims key evidence was tampered with
John Marks and Freddie Douglas were arrested last December, but the rape and kidnapping charges were dismissed by a grand jury in May after footage from Marks’ home security system cleared them.
She stuck to her story despite images suggesting the incident was nothing more than a consensual threesome.
But hidden in legal documents lies another astonishing claim.
Amanda says in a file that the images were tampered with to make the men look innocent.
‘At one point Douglas asked Marks if that was the case [Zawieruszynski] That was okay, Marks replied, “don’t worry about it because he was going to delete the footage from his security camera,” he claimed.
The claim of doctored footage was not elaborated in the lawsuit, and Zawieruszynski’s attorney Thomas Cammack said she had not seen the video.
“The alleged video footage referred to by the defendants is not footage that Amanda was aware of during the investigation,” he told DailyMail.com.
“Despite documented police reports citing doctored video evidence, we are aware that the footage was improperly presented to the grand jury as original, untampered footage.”
Cammack said he hoped to gain access to the full video from the night and morning during the discovery, along with evidence from sealed police reports.
“This footage is something we look forward to reviewing and discussing as we fight for justice and the truth in court, as reflected in Ms. Zawieruszynski’s lawsuit,” he said.
‘Ms Zawieruszynski was raped and had to undergo serious medical interventions because of this person’s actions. We look forward to seeing the truth prevail in court.”
Insisting that her rape claims were true, Zawieruszynski filed her own lawsuit on August 26, seeking more than $1 million in damages.
However, Douglas’ lawyer Michael Kerensky told DailyMail.com that her claim that the images had been altered was “pure fantasy” and was used to “justify the false allegations.”
Kerensky said Zawieruszynski’s claim in her lawsuit that she heard Marks tell Douglas not to worry about removing the footage was “a lie, he never said that.”
“Marks never deleted any footage, and even if he did, the DA’s office is provided with the full, unedited source video from the Ring Doorbell company,” where all footage is backed up and not released by the customer can be changed, he added. .
Kerensky said the grand jury viewed the full footage during their deliberations, which by law is inaccessible to either side.
Zawieruszynski also alleged in her lawsuit, without providing more details, that Marks and Douglas had raped other women and planned to assault more.
“These acts are not and are not isolated [Zawieruszynski] the sole victim of the assault and the acts committed by the defendants,” the lawsuit states.
“Based on information and belief, there are agreements between the defendants as to whether or not they will ‘expel’ her, and Douglas asked Marks if she would ‘bleed her’ in connection with another woman she were planning to commit rape together.’
Kerensky said the claim that Marks and Douglas had raped and planned to rape other women was “a lie… she’s desperate and she’s been misled.”
Cammack did not respond to questions from DailyMail.com asking for more information to substantiate the accusation.
Freddie Douglas, 43, almost lost everything after being accused of raping his best friend’s white neighbor in a threesome on his birthday
Both men were arrested by Manvel police and locked up until they could post hefty bonds to be released, with Douglas’ mother posting his.
Douglas was fired from his job as a detective, had to sell his family home in a “fire sale” to pay legal fees, and was shunned by friends and neighbors.
Both he and Marks have sued Manvel police and Zawieruszynski in separate claims alleging civil rights violations, defamation and malicious prosecution.
They claimed that police continued the case even after seeing the footage, and that the Brazoria County District Attorney’s Office was unable to convince them to drop the case, forcing them to use the grand jury to drop the case reject.
“As Freddie Douglas passed through the small town of El Campo, looks and whispers followed him everywhere,” his lawsuit read.
‘The supermarket; Walmart; getting gas; at traffic lights. In a city like El Campo, when a police officer is arrested and summarily fired by the department, everyone assumes the suspect is guilty.
“Only Freddie Douglas’ closest friends and family supported him during this time. The result almost crushed the spirit of Freddie Douglas.
“His future looked very bleak.”
Marks and Zawieruszynski began a months-long sexual relationship after she separated from her husband Michael earlier that year (pictured together before the marriage ended)
Zawieruszynski gave a harrowing account of what she said happened, which she said left her “disfigured” and caused internal and external injuries that required “surgical intervention” and ongoing treatment.
“I felt like I was drowning in a sea of shame, fear and confusion,” she said in a statement obtained by DailyMail.com.
“No one prepares you for the aftermath of such an offense, especially when one of the perpetrators is a member of law enforcement and has to protect you.
‘I was held captive. I was forcibly given alcohol, my clothes were forcibly removed, my body was abused and I was raped repeatedly throughout the night.”
Zawieruszynski, who said she has been a single mother of three since splitting with her husband Michael last year, claimed she was forced to flee her home with her family because Marks and Douglas were harassing her.
Her lawsuit alleged that she “believed she was going to die that night” and that she was held captive and raped numerous times, each more violent than the other, which was detailed in graphic detail – some too gruesome to publish.
