By Joe Johnson
A man has been acquitted of charges he raped a woman over four years ago in bar he owned in downtown Athens.
Following testimony presented over the course of a week during a trial in Clarke County Superior Court, a jury found 42-year-old David Ellis Ippisch not guilty on one count each of rape and kidnapping.
According to court documents and police records, Ippisch was accused by a 21-year-old woman of raping her on Nov. 25 2019 at The Hedges on Broad, one of two bars Ippisch owned on East Broad Street.
The rape was alleged to have occurred on the concert stage at Hedges while a DJ played music and hundreds of people gathered below for dancing and drinking. The assault, according to the woman, occurred behind a curtain on stage where she alleged Ippisch plied her with "shots" of alcohol.
Defense attorneys concurred that their client had sex with the woman in the bar, but argued that it was consensual.
The Hedges and 100 Proof bars that Ippisch had owned went out of business after his arrest.
Prior to the trial, Judge Eric Norris barred the testimony of three witnesses who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Ippisch, ruling that the testimony would have been unduly prejudicial against the bar owner.
He is a depraved psychopath. He will surface again.
Another fail by our District Attorney....
And this is why some women choose NOT to press charges or go to the police. Living the nightmare over again is traumatizing and to see your rapist walk away unpunished is even more traumatic. I hope she finds some peace. I also hope his other victims come forward despite the outcome of this trial.
I didn't hear the evidence and I don't know anyone involved. But ain't this the modern day conundrum. How dare we not punish a rapist. But how dare we incarcerate an innocent man, In this case, I must presume the jury got it right. But for four years, in the eyes of the public, this guy was a rapist.