Martz sentenced to prison for rape

WALLACE — Judge Scott Wayman addressed the criminal cases of around 25 individuals during Wednesday’s Law Day at the Shoshone County Courthouse. The bulk of the cases on the Oct. 10 docket involved property and drug related offenses, with a few violent crimes mixed in as well.

The most notable of these violent crimes cases (and arguably of any case seen that day) was the sentencing of 22-year-old Jordan Martz (who plead guilty in May 2018 to raping three different women in 2017 — two of which being minors), in which he received a 10-year fixed, 15-year indeterminate prison sentence.

The defendant was first arrested on Dec. 3, 2017, by the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office when deputies responded to, and investigated, a report of an alleged rape that occurred that day. Initially, Martz’s bond was set at $100,000, but was reduced to $30,000 which allowed him to bond out of jail on Dec. 14. Five days later, he was arrested again, this time for three additional counts of rape that occurred in June and July 2017.

Martz and his defense attorney, John Redal, agreed with the Prosecutor’s Office in May that he would plead guilty to three of the charges in exchange for the dismissal of the charge involving a 14-year-old girl.

“The adversarial process can be traumatic on victims,” Oxendine said. “All of the victims and their families wanted justice for the long-term effects this would have on their families. The case that was dismissed was the first female to come forward. Her courage prompted others to find their voice. After consulting with her at the opportunity to resolve the case absent four trials, she was willing to have her case dismissed in aid of Mr. Martz pleading guilty to three other rapes if it meant she could give a statement at sentencing and none of them had to endure the trauma of pretrial hearings and a trial. This decision was the catalyst that led to Mr. Martz pleading guilty to three out of the four charged rapes.”

Oxendine also mentioned that there were also two other known victims which agreed not to file charges in exchange for his plea of guilty to the three rapes.

Prior to the sentencing Wednesday afternoon, the courtroom seating area was split down the middle — family and friends of the defendant on one side, and the victims with their friends and family on the other. Muffled cries and whispers could be heard coming from the victims side as Judge Wayman entered the courtroom.

Following a short break to allow the defense to review the Pre-Sentencing Investigation Report (PSI), County Prosecutor Keisha Oxendine called up the three victims involved in the active cases to give witness statements.

Each more emotional than the next, the three victims took their turns at the podium and read their prepared statements while fighting through tears and emotions.

“I’ve waited for this day to come for quite some time and now that it is here, all of my emotions, thoughts and emotions are scrambled,” the first victim said in front of the court and Martz. “December of 2017 has changed my whole life. You haunt my mind, my memories and my (inaudible), you took advantage of our friendship and because of that, I question every man’s motives that even come near me. And as I mentioned my emotions, I realize that you don’t have any, do you? Because you are disconnected, blank faced, blank minded and blank hearted. What memory do you carry of me? Did you learn to block it out? Do you see my face as you sleep? Do you get reminders of me every single day? Do you know the horror, trauma and pain I feel? Do you feel any shame at all? It hurts me because I know I’m not the only one that’s brought these questions to you, but I do know that I am the last.”

She continued, “They say time heals all wounds, but I can disagree. As time passes, you just learn to accept them, you stop trying to hide them. You just realize living with scars is better than not living at all … I believe that there is good out there, even though there are people like you trying to prove me wrong … you alone did this. You brought me here and reminded me that you raped me. Unfortunately, I am not the only one … I want to say that I hope you endure the pain you caused me, but I won’t. I believe in good karma and bad karma. I’ll get the good karma for wishing you well, and you’ll get the bad karma for sexually assaulting five girls.”

The second victim explained the hardships she has endured since and took solace in the end result of this saga.

“Once I started school, people would harass me in the halls and never let me forget what you did. People online said that I was a liar and that I deserved it. I stopped going to school and dropped out of sports and couldn’t go to the store without someone calling me the Jordan Martz girl… Because of you, I don’t trust anyone that I am with. I second guess my decisions and my confidence is gone. As horrible as all of this was, getting through this means that you can’t hurt anyone else.”

The third victim also talked of her hardships and her journey to overcome them.

I am not here today because I want to be, I am here because it is my duty to tell you about the effect Jordan Martz has had on me and my family’s life. He has taken a part of my life, a moment in time, that I can never take back and the image that is burned into my mind like a bad movie that replays over and over again — haunting me as if I’m stuck in time and cannot move forwards or backwards. Sleep isn’t even an escape. It is a nightmare haunted by him. Sometimes I can feel like I can only take baby steps forward, then the memory of him returns and forces me a thousand steps backward for every one I take forward… That night was the worst life changing experience this far into my life, but that night wasn’t the worst part of what happened to me. It was a month later after everybody found out, it was like nobody wanted to be friends with the girl that was raped… Sometimes I feel so broken, sit in my bed thinking about all the friends I used to have and how much easier it would be if I never had to tell anyone. I cry and tell myself I need to be strong and I have fought so hard to be as strong as I am now, and I am so strong for telling my story so no other person has to go through what he has put me through…”

The victim of the fourth dismissed case was expected to speak as well, but did not appear at the sentencing.

Oxendine then took the floor and gave a closing argument to support the state’s recommendation of a 10-year fixed, five years indeterminate prison sentence and a no contact order with the victims throughout the sentence.

“The evidence in this case supports that Jordan Martz is a sexual predator,” she said early in her argument.

She then proceeded to give a brief (and graphic) recounting of each rape, also including the details of the one that was dismissed. Oxendine backed up these stories with the results of the PSI and a psychosexual evaluation conducted on Martz.

“Despite his guilty plea, he takes little responsibility for his actions. He gloats about his 60+ sexual partners, which according to him, he would categorize these girls that you heard from today as consensual sexual partners… (During the psychosexual evaluation) Martz presented with a calm and flat affect, showing a lack of empathy or compassion for his victims and no point was he willing or able to express any reference the damage he has caused any of these ladies.”

Oxendine closed by stressing the defendant’s danger to the public and his erratic/aggressive behavior, which she believes he displayed throughout the investigation.

“He tells the presentence investigator, ‘Look at me, I can get laid any time I want. I don’t have to rape anybody.’ … For these reasons, your honor, the goals of sentencing can only be addressed with a long period of secure incarceration in a facility that can assure Martz cannot hurt anyone and gives him the treatment that he needs.”

Redal attempted to counter the state’s point by asking Judge Wayman to consider Martz’s age, limited criminal history prior to these cases and that he is taking responsibility for what he has done.

“You have a situation where this was not a case that went to trial, this is not a case where you had constant denial throughout the entire time.”

The defense rested by asking for a two-year fixed, eight-year indeterminate prison sentence with retained jurisdiction for the possibility of a rider program.

Martz himself also spoke briefly before Judge Wayman handed down the verdict.

“I would just like to apologize to the victims for any damages they have suffered and I’m sorry they have to go through this.”

Wayman quickly recounted both points made by the prosecution and the defense, then got right to the matter by addressing Martz directly.

“You present as a substantial risk to the public,” he said to Martz. “You have committed some of the most atrocious offenses a person can commit.”

The two part, potentially 25-year, concurrent sentence handed down by Wayman also included no contact orders being issued, forbidding Martz from speaking to any of the victims during his sentence.

After the sentencing, Oxendine recognized the bravery of the victims and how this can be a step toward recovery.

“Our primary responsibility in this case was ensuring that the community was protected,” she said. “The ladies who had the courage to find their voice, did so to ensure that others wouldn’t suffer the same trauma that they experienced. It is not an easy road to report a sexual assault, and it takes a lot of courage to do so. Yesterday’s sentence sends a message to Mr. Martz and others that no means no. Although these ladies have experienced great trauma, yesterday is the next step in their road to being survivors, not victims.”