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Suspect bound over for trial despite alleged victim's refusal to testify.
Reynold Blackburn, 38, of Flora Vista, accused of holding his girlfriend captive and beating and raping her for two days last month, has been bound over for trial despite the woman's refusal to testify in the case, the Farmington Daily Times reported. Initially charged with misdemeanor domestic violence charges, Blackburn on Thursday was ordered to stand trial on more serious charges of second-degree kidnapping, second-degree rape, third-degree intimidation of a witness and aggravated battery when Magistrate Judge Carla Vescovi-Dial heard a recording of the woman's 911 call, the Daily Times said. The woman refused to testify during Thursday's preliminary hearing, saying she was afraid of incriminating herself in an unrelated drug case, but when she refused to answer more general questions about the 911 call, Vescovi-Dial found her in contempt of court, the paper reported. Investigators say that on Sept. 23, Blackburn locked the woman inside their trailer and disabled their cell phones to prevent calls for help, and the woman later told deputies that Blackburn beat her and choked her, even raping her with a baseball bat, according to arrest documents. When San Juan County sheriff's deputies searched the trailer, no baseball bat was found, the Daily Times said. Blackburn allegedly told deputies when he was being arrested that he thought the woman was making false accusations against him to get out of criminal drug charges, the paper reported. He was released from San Juan County Detention Center on Thursday after posting a $15,600 bond, the Daily Times said.
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