The Truth About Convicted Rapist Richard Gooch?

Richard Franklin Gooch

February saw two new blogs in the Shoals--neither of which we choose to link here. The intent of both blogs seems to be the defamation of certain people these bloggers feel have slighted them in the past. The author of one of the blogs is married to Richard Franklin Gooch. Yesterday Mrs. Gooch interviewed her husband; however, we have some serious questions concerning many of his/her quotes. We'll look more closely at them here.

Gooch: I told them exactly what happened. They gave me a public defender because I didn't have enough money for an attorney, nor did my parents at that time. They wanted to make a deal because I had already been in trouble for some petty crimes. (renting things and not returning them) They said because of the other crimes they would automatically think I was guilty of the rape and give me a maximum sentence, so they coaxed me into a plea agreement. I said I wasn't guilty of rape, but because they told me I could get a life sentence if it went to a jury trial even if I was innocent. Because they scared me, I was forced into a plea agreement.

SS: First, while we don't know the name of Gooch's attorney, there are some excellent lawyers who provide service to the state as public defenders. The Shoals area is not known as a financial gold mine for the law, and many proficient attorneys are happy to serve in this capacity and serve well. Second, anyone who is familiar with the law will know that Gooch could have opted for a "Best Interest" plea in which he asserted his innocence, if he had so desired. Also, the judge would have specifically asked Gooch if he had been forced in any way to accept the plea.

Mrs. Gooch: Well, we have seen several stories on Shoalanda Speaks and OB's Corner, etc. that you had raped this woman at knife point. Did you use a knife to threaten her?

 

SS: Until today, we have never mentioned Gooch by name and have never mentioned a knife. We linked OB's Corner on January 29th of this year and answered a comment concerning the alleged crime on January 31st. We have not checked OB's blog to see how often he has or hasn't mentioned Gooch, but no one has seen "several stories" concerning Gooch here because we have not published them. Our purpose in mentioning Gooch's presence at Sweetwater was to point out how easily any unscrupulous person could accuse him of a sex crime and win a large judgment from Sweetwater's owner, forcing her to sell the property to developers.

Mrs. Gooch: I believe the story on Shoalanda says you broke into the woman's house and knifed her and raped her and left her for dead? 

 

SS: Once again, we have two previous entries concerning Gooch--January 29th and January 31st. Please read these posts yourself and see if any of this was mentioned. It wasn't. Mrs. Gooch either has serious memory problems or intentionally added a great deal to her tale of woe. We leave that for you to decide.

Gooch: No, I didn't even have a knife. There was never any mention of a weapon in my case. These stories have been fabricated. My case is on micro fiche at the Colbert County Courthouse if anyone wants to check it out.

 

SS: From the May 14th, 1991, TimesDaily: 

Several other quotes could be examined, but we believe this gives the gist of Mrs. Gooch's post and its lack of veracity. We will add one more quote in the "just because" department. When asked what he saw in his wife, among his answers was this: ...and she doesn't look her age. Ahh, we're glad Mr. Gooch has reached a point in his life where he knows what's important and what isn't.

 

*****

 

After reading our entry for today, we wish to offer an addendum. Only three entities know what happened on December 22, 1990--Gooch, his alleged victim, and God. Nor do we know Gooch's state of mind when he accepted the plea deal. Gooch says that he has turned his life around, and we sincerely hope he has. Our only problem with Gooch himself is the dissemination of false information about our blog. We hope both Mr. and Mrs. Gooch will go back and read anything that we have said previously. Perhaps they will be surprised at what we have and haven't actually said?

Shoalanda