D.C. Attorney Charged with Raping Woman During “Brief” Encounter

A Washington, D.C., criminal defense lawyer was due in D.C. Superior Court Friday for a pretrial hearing on charges that he raped a woman.

The unidentified woman says attorney Jonathan Jeffress choked her during an encounter a police report described as “forced, unwanted sexual contact.”

Jeffress said it was a rendezvous with a professional acquaintance he had known for two years. A meeting with her over coffee led to “a brief consensual encounter,” he said in a statement.

“There is no world in which I would ever do what I have been accused of in this case,” Jeffress said. The charges are based on “one person’s uncorroborated, false allegations.”

He said he could prove his innocence with “audio recordings, video surveillance tapes, texts and emails.”

The claimed victim contacted police after the alleged Dec. 21 encounter near her home in Northeast Washington.

She said she was rendered unconscious when Jeffress strangled her. She told police she feared for her life.

Jeffress seeks a bench trial on charges that include first- and third-degree sexual assault. The prosecution opposes a bench trial.

Jeffress, 51, is a partner in the firm KaiserDillon and a former federal public defender. He was one of the firm’s attorneys that helped win a $377.45 million whistleblower judgment in July against government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. after allegations of procurement fraud.

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