Update: Former EMT found not guilty, all charges dismissed
CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A former ambulance worker is on trial this week, charged with the rape of a patient while they were in transit.
On March 10, 2017, police were dispatched to Alfred Thun Road in Clarksville to investigate an emergency medical technician (EMT) who was transporting a patient from a Nashville hospital.
According to previous Clarksville Now reports, the suspect, then 20-year-old Samuel Rutherford of Hendersonville, was in the back of the private emergency vehicle with the female patient. The victim told police Rutherford forced her to perform oral sex on him.
Victim recovering from surgery
According to testimony from expert witness Rex Arendall, a retired neurosurgeon, the victim was referred to him in 2016 after dealing with lifelong back and leg pain. Under his care, she received two surgeries.
On March 7, 2017, the woman was admitted to Tristar Southern Hills Medical Center in Nashville, where Dr. Arendall performed the second back surgery. Afterward, Arendall said, the woman was lethargic and confused.
Over the next few days of her recovery, the Valium and oxycodone she was on made her relaxed but confused, and her memory was affected.
MedicOne, a private ambulance company, was dispatched to transport the woman from Southern Hills to a rehabilitation center in Caldwell County, Kentucky. Rutherford, a basic EMT, was the lead on the patient’s care and stayed in the back of the ambulance with her while his partner, John Sympson, an advanced EMT, drove the ambulance.
According to previous reports and testimony, while Rutherford was in the back with the patient, he turned off the cabin light, placed a backpack in the open area between the driver and the rear of the vehicle, and placed his genitals on the victim’s mouth.
‘He took advantage of an opportunity’
In his opening arguments, District Attorney General Robert Nash said the defendant took advantage of an opportunity.
“After having significant back surgery, she was administered a regime of drugs and she could not, could not, make good judgment or decisions,” Nash told the jury. “She was helpless.”
Nash said this incident occurred while the woman was under the care of Rutherford, a medical professional. Nash said Rutherford gave a statement admitting his part in the crime.
“She was in no condition, according to him (Rutherford), to consent,” Nash said. “That’s rape. She had no ability to run or get away; she was strapped to the bed under the influence of a lot of medication after three days of being in the hospital. Major surgery.
“Mr. Rutherford just took advantage of an opportunity. Period.”
‘He attempted suicide out of guilt’
Defense Attorney Jeff Grimes argued that although what his client did was inappropriate, it was consensual.
Grimes told the jury the female patient was medicated with instant release oxycodone every three hours and Valium every four to six hours. On the day that MedicOne transported her, her last dose of Valium was at noon, five hours before she was discharged, and her last dose of oxycodone was at 3 p.m., two hours before her discharge.
He explained that the distance from Nashville to Clarksville with the factor of after-5 traffic on a Friday would have lengthened the journey, and he implied that the medications she was on may have had time to wear off, making her coherent at the time of the incident.
Grimes said that while in the back of the ambulance, an inappropriate conversation took place between his client and the victim.
“At some point, she (patient) places her hand on his leg,” Grimes said. “He gets up, moves around a bit, then she does it again. Then they start talking about more inappropriate things they should do. That’s when his penis comes out.”
Not long after that Sympson intervened, punching Rutherford in the face and telling him he was going to jail. Grimes told the jury that under the duress of a panic attack, Rutherford tried to end his life by hanging himself with his belt in the back of the ambulance and rendered himself unconscious. Grimes said this wasn’t the first time Rutherford had tried to kill himself.
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Grimes also said his client’s admission during an interview with Clarksville Police detectives was irrational, conceived by a false narrative that police planted in his head.
“He’s convinced himself that he’s broken the law,” Grimes told the jury. “This person’s telling me, that person’s telling me, they’re telling me to shut up, you’re under arrest: he panicked. He starts admitting to stuff because they told him that he did it while under an excited state where he is not rational.”
The trial is set to resume Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. at the Montgomery County Courts Center.