This article was written by a source that prefers to remain anonymous, understandably due to the fact that the real victim in this story seems to be set upon by the Tulsa Police Department, the Tulsa D.A. office, and even the media.
I have followed this story for nearly eight months now, numerous friends and sources vouch for the attorney falsely accused, Jeff Krigel. Krigel is a hard charging trial attorney, the D.A. and the cops have ample reason to hate the guy as he is effective and actually tries cases, forcing the system to prove the guilt of his clients.
And I have to say this, charging a man with rape when the "victim" lives with him and sleeps every night with him is insanity absent evidence such as bruises or other indications of actual force or coercion. Let's be real, women have traded affection and sex for resources and protection for hundreds of thousands of years or longer and no doubt at times the sex might not have been desired but it generally is considered a duty by both partners. Call me a pig but how is anyone harmed being screwed for the 89th time by the same partner that year even if one or both are drunk?
The ironic part of all of this is that Jeff Krigel considers himself somewhat liberal and now much of what he supported is biting him right in the rear. That doesn't make the man guilty. That doesn't change the fact that this is a payback charge against an effective trial attorney that the local cops and D.A. don't like. Krigel is a good father, a good attorney, and a Jew which might well be another reason he is hated in criminal justice circles in Tulsa. Antisemitism is still popular but for the life of me I do not understand why.
Did
the Tulsa
World and
other local media outlets prejudice the public in local rape case
through misleading reporting? by name withheld
Jeffrey
Krigel is a Tulsa attorney who was arrested on rape charges on June
11, 2021. His accuser was a woman he dated for three years and who
lived with him.
His ex-wife has also accused Krigel of raping her—though the police have not pressed charges for this.
Krigel and his former wife were divorced in 2015, though she only accused Krigel of rape around the time of his arrest—failing to disclose any alleged incidents during custody proceedings over their eight-year-old daughter, which would have been expected.
On June 11th, The Tulsa World carried a story about Krigel by Jacob Factor entitled “Tulsa Attorney Arrested After Six Victims Accuse of him of Sexual Assault.”
Featuring Krigel’s mug shot, Factor claimed that Krigel had been arrested on serial rape charges—though he was actually charged only with one count of rape.
[Source: tulsaworld.com]
The article quoted Police Lieutenant Darin Ehrenrich of the Tulsa Police Department (TPD)’s Special Victims Unit, who said that six women had come forward accusing Krigel of sexual assault going back to 2005. Ehrenreich said that several of the assaults occurred while the women—whom Krigel was mostly in relationships with—were unconscious.
Darrin Ehrenrich [Source: news9.com]
In the case where the TPD decided to press charges, the woman, who was in a relationship with Krigel, alleged that “he repeatedly kept pushing boundaries, forcing her to perform sexual acts and performing sexual acts on her without her consent,” a detective said in a court affidavit.
The victim said that “at times she would wake up to find Krigel having sex with her and that at other times he would tell her they had had sex when she didn’t remember it.”
On April 29, Krigel gave the woman a glass of water while they talked on his porch, the affidavit says the woman told police. The woman said she doesn’t remember anything from the time she drank the water until she woke up around 2:30 a.m. the next morning.
However, according to Krigel’s attorney there is strong evidence the alleged victim and Krigel on the night of April 29th, went out to a restaurant, and drank alcohol together.
Thus, it appears quite possible that she passed out when she came home because she was tired or had eaten or drank too much—not because she was drugged which the Tulsa World article seemed to suggest. Krigel’s formal charges or information alleges no “drugging.”
The physical evidence in the case is generally weak.
Krigel’s counsel informed me that a rape test was taken five days after the alleged sexual assault took place—which is longer than the 72-hour period after an attack that the test is normally considered effective for.
Krigel’s counsel has not seen any results.
Krigel’s counsel’s Court filings insist that his client is caught up in a Kafkaesque nightmare where Krigel's ex-wife colluded with his ex-girlfriend to destroy his life.
He says that his ex-wife’s primary motive is to gain full custody of their daughter so she can move with her and her new husband to Belgium, where his family lives lavishly.
Krigel’s Attorney alleges that, “[a]fter failing to win legal custody during a three year custody battle, attorney Stephanie Duran [ex-wife] results to her nuclear option of lying by using the Oklahoma Bar Association (‘OBA’) as a weapon and colluding with women she has messaged for two to six years in order to kidnap respondents child, misrepresent facts and lie to this Court.”
Krigel’s counsel goes on to say, “[alleged victim] related to police she only comes to find Respondent [Krigel] on April 29, 2021 because Petitioner [ex-wife Duran] contacts her [alleged victim] and tells her [alleged victim] that 1) the Bar will contact [alleged victim] and 2) Respondent [Krigel] cheats on [alleged victim].”
In 2005, Krigel was exonerated of sexual assault charges at his university—yet the Tulsa World article made it seem like he was found guilty
Krigel is worried that he will never receive a fair trial given that he is hated by the Tulsa Police Department. Last year, he sent out a facebook message condemning one of their officers who died of COVID-19.
From an outsiders’ perspective, the Krigel case is disturbing because the article in the Tulsa World appears to be misleading—particularly in its depiction of the events of the alleged assault on April 29th, 2021 and assumption of guilt for accusations that have never been verified and which the police did not have enough evidence to press charges for.
The Me-Too movement has emboldened many women to stand up to bullying men and to seek and obtain justice.
As amazing as this is to witness, we must also acknowledge that it has led to some unfair accusations and excesses that have ruined men’s lives.
The media should generally attempt a balanced approach in reporting on criminal cases, and not just accept the police’s narrative when there are question marks about its accuracy.
