Attorney claims alleged rape victim's text clear client
The attorney for a man accused of raping a former Alabama student released a full-page ad in a local paper claiming that her text messages exonerate his client.
Megan Rondini committed suicide in February of last year after accusing TJ Bunn, the son of a prominent local family, of rape after a night of drinking in 2015.
Her parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this month against Bunn, personnel at the University of Alabama and law enforcement officers on the behalf of their deceased 20-year-old daughter.
In response to the national case, Bunn's lawyer Ivey Gilmore took out a full-page ad in the Tuscaloosa News on Thursday and claimed Rondini's text messages clear Bunn.
An excerpt of the ad, entitled Character Assassination In The Internet Age, said: 'It is this young woman's own words, and her own text messages that led every investigating authority to conclude she had not been sexually assaulted.
'Further, it is regretful that the young woman's own texts, emails, photographs and statements will bring such embarrassment and intense examination for her friends and associates.'
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Megan Rondini, 20 (pictured), may have been driven to commit suicide after she accused TJ Bunn, 36, the son of a wealthy Tuscaloosa, Alabama, family, of rape in July 2015. She hanged herself on February 26, 2016
Bunn's lawyer Ivey Gilmore released a full-page ad in the Tuscaloosa News on Thursday (pictured) claiming that Rondini's text messages will clear his client
Gilmore also slammed Buzzfeed, who first reported the story, in the ad and claimed Rondini's parents, Michael and Cindy Rondini, of Texas, were trying to extort money.
The ad read: 'The horrible, misleading and blatantly false accusations of BuzzFeed and malicious false assertions of social media attackers are designed to do nothing more than attempt to extort money with a lawsuit.
'These "journalists" have used selective facts, gossip and have outright lied about the facts of the case.
'So why is the tragic suicide of this young woman now the subject of a lawsuit? It is because some of those involved have determined that money can be gained, one way or another, at the expense of this young woman's reputation.
'This matter is now before the Court, and in an open court, ALL the evidence, the text messages, the statements she made, photographs on her phone, everything will be aired for consideration.
'The full review of the evidence will show that law enforcement, the grand jury, the hospital and others involved acted properly because no sexual assault occurred."
The ad continues: 'It is regretful that BuzzFeed and a group of trial lawyers have chosen to potentially expose the most intimate and sensitive (and embarrassing) aspects of this young woman's life in this lawsuit. But that is their choice and the result of their actions.'
Michael and Cindy Rondini (pictured) said their daughter felt betrayed by school and law enforcement officials. They filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the beginning of the month
Bunn's attorney also slammed Buzzfeed, who first reported the story, in the advert and claimed that Rondini's parents were trying to extort money
Michael and Cindy Rondini filed the lawsuit earlier this month and believe Bunn avoided being criminally charged because he was wealthy and well-connected.
The Rondinis are claiming that the alleged rape and Alabama officials' mishandling of the case drove their daughter to suicide in February of 2016.
In response to Gilmore's ad, the firm representing the wrongful death lawsuit said to AL.com: 'This paid advertisement reeks of desperation and is a clear attempt to bully the Rondini Family.
'The text messages [Bunn's] lawyer refer to show exactly how a situation can devolve into a nightmare in a matter of minutes.
'It's no accident that this paid ad carefully avoids to mention the messages and phone calls that occurred immediately after that tragic night.
'This is classic case of victim blaming and a sad attempt to justify a sexual assault.'
Speaking to CBS News in early July, Megan's parents said their late daughter felt betrayed by those who she believed were supposed to be on her side.
'She's like, "Mom, they think it's my fault,"' Cindy Rondini tearfully said. 'Like, "It's not your fault baby, it's not."'
After learning of the alleged rape, Cindy Rondini drove from the family's home in Austin to Alabama to support her daughter. 'It was the most heart-breaking moment of my life,' the mother recalled as she wept.
The Rondinis' federal complaint states that Megan, then a junior who planned to go to medical school, met then 34-year-old Terry 'Sweet T' Bunn, whose family runs a large construction business in Tuscaloosa, at a popular local bar in July 2015.
She was later sexually assaulted at his home, possibly after being drugged, the suit contends.
Mother's worst nightmare: Mrs Rondini weeps recalling the moment Megan told her she was being treated as if she were at fault
Megan (pictured) told investigators that on July 1, 2015 she went to Innisfree Irish Pub for trivia night with a group of sorority sisters. She blacked out and woke up in Bunn's Mercedes. She said she was so intimidated that she didn't try to stop Bunn as he drove toward his house
Ultimately, Megan and her family decided it was no longer safe for her to stay in Tuscaloosa. She withdrew from the University of Alabama (pictured) before the end of fall semester
Police investigating the sexual assault were sympathetic toward Bunn and wrongly focused on Rondini's actions, which included taking a handgun and $3 in cash for cab fare from his home, the lawsuit claims.
'Megan ultimately was treated as a crime suspect and her status as a victim of a sex crime was completely disregarded,' the suit said.
In her initial interview with the police, which took place just hours after the alleged rape and was videotaped, the young woman told officers: ‘I had already said like I needed to leave, and he just wasn't really responding to that.’
‘I feel like I wanna like throw up,’ she also said.
After being asked about the $3 and the handgun, Megan says in the recording: 'I'm really sorry, like, I didn't, I just...'
To which one of the detectives responds: 'I told you we just gotta touch base on everything.'
Michael Rondini, the woman's father, told CBS News it was at that moment in Megan's interview that the family 'started to learn that this wasn't going like a normal investigation.’
Bunn's interview with the local police was also recorded on video. In it, the suspect could be heard telling the cops: 'I appreciate y'all's professionalism. And I appreciate the way y'all have handled this.’
An investigator replies: ‘If it was me on the other side, I'd want to do the same thing for me.’
When Megan sought counselling from the university, the first therapist who was assigned to treat her had to drop her case because she personally knew Bunn.
Mom Cindy said after the alleged rape, her daughter no longer felt safe on campus and would call her parents to tell them she was afraid.
Megan ultimately withdrew from Alabama and returned home to Texas, where her mental condition deteriorated, according to the complaint.
Bunn wasn't charged, and the lawsuit claims investigators and university officials mishandled her allegations.
The suit contends Rondini afterward suffered depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, which her parents say led to her suicide.
It also names Beth Howard, Title IX coordinator at University of Alabama; Cara Blake of the school's Women and Gender Resource Center; Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ron Abernathy; and two county officers, investigator Adam Jones and deputy Joshua Hastings.
In a statement, the university declined comment on specifics of the lawsuit but said school officials were 'deeply saddened' by Rondini's death and are trying to raise community awareness and support victims of sexual assault.
In a separate statement to CBS, college officials contended that its staff 'handled their responsibilities with care at all times keeping Megan's well-being as their absolute highest priority.'
A lawyer for Bunn denied that he had sexually assaulted her.
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Share 948 shares'The allegations against my client as set forth in this baseless lawsuit are simply false,' the statement said.
Abernathy said the case was referred to a grand jury, which declined to issue an indictment. Letting grand jurors consider evidence rather than filing immediate charges is standard practice in cases with 'very conflicting statements,' Abernathy said.
The lawsuit was assigned to a federal magistrate judge Monday, but no hearing date was set.
The complaint doesn't seek a specific amount of money. It asks for a court order requiring the sheriff's office to provide better training to officers and 'to provide safe conditions to citizens around criminal investigations.'
Megan told investigators she went to Innisfree Irish Pub for trivia night with a group of sorority sisters. She saw Bunn there and had seen him before but they only had spoken once.
She blacked out and came to in Bunn's Mercedes.
Megan said she was so intimidated by Bunn that she didn't try to stop him as he drove toward his house.
She then said Bunn told her to go to his room and she complied, sitting on a couch near the door, as far as possible from his bed and - when he came in - he told her he wanted to have sex.
That's when Megan said she had to leave, while 'trying to be really nice to him' because 'I know he's an influential person in Tuscaloosa'.
'I said, I really need to go, I have friends that are waiting,' she told police when they first interviewed her at the hospital. 'He didn't really take that.'
Eventually, Megan said, she 'felt like just letting him have sex with me was the only way he would let me go'.
According to investigators, Megan was able to escape his mansion by climbing out of the second story window.
When she realized she couldn't find her keys, she checked Bunn’s Mercedes, where she found his wallet and a pistol, which she took for protection despite not knowing how to fire it.
Under Alabama's rape law, victims must prove they 'earnestly' resisted their attackers, and the investigator who interviewed Megan, Adam Jones, decided that she hadn't done so against Bunn.
According to him, she hadn't 'kicked him or hit him,' so the investigator would conclude that no rape occurred.
When she told him about going into Bunn's car, video shows Jones entering and exiting the room, asking Megan questions that were about her behavior the previous night instead of her rape allegations.
When Bunn was interviewed, he called Megan 'a very willing participant.'
When his interviewer left the room for a moment, Bunn told his lawyer in a whisper that he'd drop the charges against Megan if she dropped hers.
'I won't pursue her if she doesn't pursue me, but I will play hardball if she does,' he's seen saying on video.
The suit names Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ron Abernathy (above with his wife), saying law enforcement treated Megan like a criminal and TJ Bunn like a victim
Later, when Megan tried to file a civil suit, she learned the only way to escape possible prosecution for those crimes was to drop her case.
The district attorney's office eventually decided to present it to a grand jury - but the grand jury would also rule on felony charges against Megan for breaking into Bunn's car and stealing his gun.
When Megan went to the University of Alabama for counseling, a staff therapist told her that she had to recuse herself from the case because she knew the Bunn family.
Ultimately, Megan and her family decided it was no longer safe for her to stay in Tuscaloosa and she withdrew from the university before the end of fall semester.
'She did everything that she could to protect herself and to get help,' Megan's father, Mike Rondini, told Buzzfeed News. 'She should have gotten that help, and she didn't. That is a failure on everybody's part.'
Megan left Tuscaloosa newly-diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and her depression seemed to only worsen.
On February 2016, Megan sent a text to a friend that read: 'When all is said and done, I wonder what I could've accomplished if one man didn't completely rip everything away from me.'
Megan ended up transferring to Southern Methodist University in Texas, a school she hated because she missed her old friends, her sorority, her old life.
She filled out an intake form for SMU's mental health center, in which she wrote that she thought she would be 'better off dead' more than half the time.
One question asked if there had been major losses, changes, or crises in her life. Megan wrote: 'Raped, bullied by police, changed university.'
She never turned it in and hanged herself on February 26, 2016.
Megan never wrote a suicide note, but the intake forms were found next to her bed.
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