Even accuser's jail term won't lift shadow of rape accusation

Thursday was a vacation day for Minneapolis police officer Paul Gillies. He spent the morning at home, checking off a list of chores that his wife of 21 years had made for him.

Then, in the early afternoon, he put on his blue uniform and, as he has done countless times over the past two years, drove down to the Hennepin County Courthouse to once again face the woman who accused him of rape.

When it was over, after hours of emotional and at times bizarre testimony, Gillies' accuser, Trisha Farkarlun, was denied a retrial and sentenced to one year in prison for falsely accusing Gillies and fellow officer MiQuel Barnes.

Most of the sentence was stayed. Farkarlun will serve only 20 days in jail for upending the lives of two officers.

Gillies didn't flinch when he heard the sentence, and he didn't celebrate. He knows that it's not over. He sometimes wonders if it will ever be.

On July 28, 2007, the officers responded to a call of a fight in a house on Vincent Avenue N. They broke up the fight and asked Farkarlun to leave. Farkarlun claimed that the officers followed her from the building, dragged her into an alley and that Barnes then raped her.

Gillies and Barnes were called downtown that afternoon and read their Miranda rights. They went to the hospital and gave DNA samples. Then Gillies went to his home in Burnsville and told his wife and two sons, then 15 and 12, that he had been accused of rape.

"In 20 years I've been involved in shootings, jumped out of a speeding car and now this," Gillies said Friday morning. "I feel like I've put my family through hell."

Farkarlun's accusations quickly began to unravel. A nurse at the hospital found no evidence of a struggle and said the woman's claims "didn't add up." The GPS system in Gillies' squad car showed that the officers were not in the vicinity at the time of the alleged attack. Both men passed DNA tests. Twice. Finally, a jury found Farkarlun guilty of fabricating the story.

Through the ordeal, Gillies said he's been made to feel like a criminal. "Even when I gave my victim impact statement, I had to wait a floor below the courtroom" because Farkarlun was upset by seeing him.

At times, the courtroom was crowded with activists and "court watchers" who supported Farkarlun. "One day I heard somebody behind me say to someone else, 'How does it feel to sit near a rapist,'" said Gillies. "I thought they were talking about someone else."

Gillies grew up in south Minneapolis and graduated from Roosevelt High. "I wanted to be a cop since I was a kid," he said. "Everybody who gets into it wants to make a difference, and I know I have. I've been called to a lot of domestics, and I had a woman come up to me later and say, 'Thank you. You saved my life.'''

While cops can come off as detached or aloof, Gillies is comparatively gregarious. Sgt. Jesse Garcia has known Gillies for years. "Of all the officers they could have picked to do this, he's not the one," Garcia said. "Paul is cut from a different cloth altogether. He reminds me of our police chaplain."

Barnes was in training when the accusations came, but is still on the force.

"If that had happened in my first year, I'd have probably quit," Gillies said.

Two jurors said they not only believed the evidence, they believed the officers.

Juror Leonard Greene, a retired doctor, said the rape story didn't make sense.

"They were doing their job," he said. "I've seen plenty of [bad cops], drunk with power. But there were some good cops in this trial."

In the end, Farkarlun continued to say the officers raped her. Her attorney, Jill Clark, insisted that a wide conspiracy covered up the rape. "I can't abandon this woman," Clark said, beginning to cry.

Garcia, a police spokesman, said such a conspiracy would have involved officers, internal affairs, investigators from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the hospital and attorneys.

Judge Tanya Bransford said she thought Farkarlun truly believed she'd been raped, but added that the state proved she was guilty of fabricating the story of assault by the officers. Both Gillies and juror Greene expressed some sadness for Farkarlun. "She's damaging her whole life," Greene said.

Not to mention the lives of Gillies and Barnes.

"Every year it gets worse and worse because of stuff like this,'' Gillies said. "People will always remember I was accused. They won't remember I didn't do it."

Clark said in court that she will appeal. She has already sued many of the parties involved, including the police department and a nurse with 20 years' experience who examined Farkarlun.

"On it goes," Gillies said.

jtevlin@startribune.com • 612-673-1702