St. Paul rape suspect goes back to jail over friend's appeal to victim

A woman attacked in a St. Paul apartment building said the friend offered her $1,000 to drop the case against Rage Ibrahim. The judge ruled that violated a no-contact order.

By Pat Pheifer, Star Tribune

Last update: November 19, 2007 - 8:53 PM

A St. Paul rape suspect who was free on bail was thrown back in jail Monday after the victim testified that a friend of the suspect offered her a bribe to make the charges go away.

The victim testified Monday that she was approached Nov. 1 by a friend of defendant Rage Ibrahim, 25, and told that Ibrahim would give her $1,000 to drop the allegations.

She said no, telling the friend, Mohammed Nuur, "This is bigger than me now and I cannot make the case go away," the woman testified. Nuur came to her again Friday, she said, to ask whether she'd reconsidered. Again she told him no.

Those actions were a clear violation of a no-contact order Ibrahim received when he was released from jail, prosecutor Jill Gerber told the judge.

Ibrahim is accused of raping the woman in an apartment building hallway on Aug. 21 -- within view of several residents who walked by or peered out their doors but did nothing. A judge had lowered Ibrahim's bail on Oct. 23, and he was released from jail with the stipulation that he have no direct or indirect contact with the victim.

On Monday, the defense tried to raise questions about who tried to initiate contact.

Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, testified that Nuur had told him and defense attorney Jerod Peterson that the victim wanted to set up a meeting with Ibrahim's attorneys.

On Nov. 9, Jamal and Peterson twice drove to the school the victim attends. The first time they were told she was on a field trip to the Science Museum of Minnesota. The second, they saw her talking to Nuur near the school bus. Nuur then told them that she had said she needed more time.

But the victim testified Monday that she never went on a trip to the Science Museum and that she never told Nuur she wanted to set up a meeting with defense attorneys.

Ibrahim, a thin and slight man who sat between his attorney and an interpreter, alternately stared and glared at the victim, who sat at the back of the courtroom.

Ramsey County District Judge Michael Fetsch said the evidence showed that Ibrahim had violated the no-contact order. The judge revoked Ibrahim's conditional release and reinstated $50,000 bail.

Ibrahim was led out of the St. Paul courtroom and taken to jail by deputies.

Pat Pheifer • 651-298-1551

Pat Pheifer • ppheifer@startribune.com

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