CHIPLEY — Opening arguments will be heard before Judge Colby Peel on Wednesday in the trial of the man accused of the February 2013 kidnapping and beating of a Chipley woman.
Christopher Cruz Walley, 27, of Corbin Road, Chipley, is charged with aggravated battery, kidnapping/false imprisonment and grand theft in a series of events that left a woman unconscious in the trunk of an Oldsmobile, which he drove throughout the night of the alleged crime and into the next day.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office reported the victim in the case called 911 from an Eloise Road residence in Chipley to report the crime after she escaped from the trunk. She was then transported to Northwest Florida Community Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition due to injuries sustained from the beating.
The victim, who is expected to testify Wednesday, told investigators she had been in the car with Walley on Feb. 5 when without warning, Walley stopped the vehicle and began attacking her, both with his hands and with a police baton, until she lost consciousness.
Investigators reported the victim regained consciousness and found she had been moved to the trunk of the vehicle and that Walley continued to travel throughout the evening and into the next day, making several stops with the victim still trapped in the trunk.
Walley was later arrested in Bonifay after the Bonifay Police Department received a tip the car was parked at a local restaurant.
The trial begins after a series of continuances granted at the request of the defendant, including a request filed after Walley told Judge Christopher Patterson in August 2014 pre-trial proceedings that he didn’t feel he had been afforded sufficient communication with his attorney.
Walley is expected to take the stand in his defense on Thursday.