PANAMA CITY — A man accused of raping a woman he allegedly kidnapped to return to forced prostitution will not be allowed to keep copies of the evidence the government will produce in his jail cell, a judge ruled Wednesday.
The government prevailed in a hearing on a motion to prevent Jacobo Feliciano-Francisco from holding on to documents that will identify witnesses against him, as well as other suspects in a criminal conspiracy who have not been charged, when he is in the Bay County Jail.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Risinger was concerned that Feliciano-Francisco might attempt some measure of retaliation against the witnesses.
“…The Government contends it would be inappropriate for the defendant to receive a physical copy of his discovery to keep in his possession at the Bay County Jail,” Risinger wrote in a motion filed in August. “Indeed, allowing the defendant to maintain a separate copy of his discovery materials that contain witness names could assist him in engaging in further retaliation and witness intimidation while incarcerated.”
Feliciano-Francisco’s attorney, Maria Dykes, opposed the motion. In a response, she wrote that she would have limited time to spend with Feliciano-Francisco at the jail and it would be helpful to prepare his defense if he could access documents there. Any efforts to retaliate against witnesses could result in additional charges, she noted.
Feliciano-Francisco has pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment charging him with kidnapping, retaliating against a witness and transporting or coercing a person for prostitution during his initial court appearance in August.
He was arrested in Hattiesburg, Miss., after a woman walked into a police station and told officers she had just escaped from a brothel a block away after being kidnapped from her Panama City Beach home earlier in the day.
The woman, who had been forced to work as a prostitute testified in a federal trial in Tennessee that resulted in 13 convictions, relocated to Florida out of fear for her safety following a confrontation with an unknown person about her cooperation with the government, according to court records.
Feliciano-Francisco is scheduled for trial in December.