Black man accused of raping his white neighbor used home security camera to avoid charges; now he's suing her and police for false arrest

A black man has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Manvel, Texas, and its police officers, claiming he was wrongfully arrested for sexually assaulting his white neighbor during a celebration in honor of his new home.

According to the lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Manvel resident John Marks, 40, and his friend Freddie Douglas Jr., 43, had consensual sex in Marks' pool on Nov. 9, 2023, with Amanda Zawieruszynski, a woman who lived nearby and with whom Marks said he had had an “intimate” relationship for several months.

Zawieruszynski filed a police report a week later, claiming she was being held against her will. Both men raped or attempted to rape her for several hours that night and into the next morning, the El Campo Leader-News reported. A court affidavit said all three had been drinking and the assaults occurred “with the woman saying no and having to physically fight Douglas off.”

Marks was arrested on December 7, 2023, and charged with aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping, crimes punishable by prison sentences ranging from five to 99 years. Douglas was also arrested and fired from his job as an El Campo police detective. Both men were detained and released on bail, maintaining their innocence.

On March 23, a Brazoria County grand jury reviewed the evidence presented against them by the district attorney and returned a verdict not to indict the two men.

In his lawsuit filed on August 21, Marks claims Manzel police arrested him based solely on Zawieruszynski and without a proper investigation. Had they done so, he argues, police would have seen surveillance footage from cameras in and around his home that clearly exonerated him.

According to the complaint, cameras captured Zawieruszynski arriving that evening with cupcakes and “entering the house without any signs of distress or hesitation,” appearing relaxed and engaging in friendly conversation. She later undressed and “voluntarily” joined the men in the pool and “appeared to be enjoying herself … and engaged in consensual sex with John Marks and later Freddie Douglas, with no signs of resistance or discomfort.”

The cameras showed Zawieruszynski “moving freely throughout the house and having multiple opportunities to leave the house when she felt threatened or uncomfortable,” according to the complaint, including once when she was alone in the house while Marks and Douglas were outside in the pool.

Marks said he informed Officer Taner Truitt and Police Chief Thomas Traylor of the existence of surveillance footage contradicting Zawieruszynski's allegations, but officers failed to review the footage or include it in their report to the judge when they sought a warrant for his arrest.

“Their conduct was driven by a desire to obtain a conviction at any cost rather than by a determination to uncover the truth,” the complaint states.

Marks also claims that police used excessive force during his arrest and then held him in a cold, uncomfortable cell for several hours before transferring him to the Brazoria County Jail. During this time, he was denied “access to legal counsel and information about the charges against him.”

In his complaint, he further argues that his treatment in custody “was part of a larger pattern of systematic abuse by the Manvel Police Department, which routinely violated the rights of those detained.”

The case is “not an isolated incident, but reflects a familiar pattern reminiscent of the injustices depicted in To Kill a Mockingbird, where black men are falsely accused of sex crimes by white women and the law enforcement machinery is all too willing to proceed without questions being asked,” the lawsuit states.

The arrest and rape charges against Marks “generated significant media attention … which was overwhelmingly negative and portrayed John as a dangerous criminal,” causing neighbors, colleagues and friends to distance themselves from Marks and causing irreparable harm to his personal and professional reputation, he claims.

In his complaint, he accuses the City of Manvel of federal civil rights violations, including failing to adequately investigate serious allegations, denying Marks his right to protection from unlawful searches, seizures and deprivation of liberty, excessive use of force and failing to adequately train, supervise and discipline officers.

The complaint also details alleged misconduct by three police officers:

• It alleges that Truitt “made false and misleading statements to Justice of the Peace Richard B. Davis and withheld material information which, if disclosed, would have prevented the issuance of the arrest warrant.”

• Police Chief Traylor, who was involved in and witnessed Mark's arrest, “knew or was blithely indifferent that Officer Truitt made false and misleading statements in his affidavit.”

• Officer Ruiz (first name unknown) conducted an unreasonable search of Marks' vehicle and home without probable cause or reasonable suspicion, violating the Fourth Amendment. Ruiz used excessive force during the arrest despite no resistance, Marks alleges, and later tampered with Marks' security cameras by changing the settings from 180 days to 60 days, an action “aimed at destroying exculpatory evidence and obstructing justice.”

Traylor, Mandel police and Brazoria County District Attorney Tom Selleck all declined requests from Atlanta Black Star to comment on the criminal case and civil lawsuit.

Marks also accuses Zawieruszynski of malicious prosecution for falsely reporting to police that he had raped and kidnapped her, which led to his arrest and prosecution and caused him mental anguish and damage to his personal and professional reputation.

After the grand jury that reviewed the surveillance video declined to indict Marks and Douglas in March, the two men appeared at a press conference with civil rights activists who accused the Manvel Police Department of racist and corrupt practices and allegedly made false rape claims against Zawieruszynski.

“From 2024 all the way back to the time of Emmett Till, black men still have to defend their lives against white tears,” said Iris Bey, president of the Brazoria County NAACP. Turning to Marks, she said, “That audio and video saved your life. Without it, Brazoria County would have nailed your ass to the cross. … Why are we still fighting white fragility in 2024?”

Marks is demanding a jury trial and “all available remedies” from the court against all defendants for the alleged constitutional violations, including compensatory damages, penalties and fines for lost wages, reduced earning capacity, medical expenses (including psychological counseling and therapy), loss of employment opportunities and community reputation, social ostracism, and damage to personal relationships.