After being stopped by then-Orlando police officer Roderick Johnson for a broken tail light, the woman's initial impression of him was positive. The officer told her that, though he could, he wasn't going to charge her for having marijuana in the car, or for driving with a suspended license.
When Johnson drove her to a substation and took her inside, she said, he exposed himself as she sat in a chair inches away.
"I did like I felt what he wanted me to do," and began performing a sex act on Johnson, she said. "I was scared... He's bigger than me, he's an officer. He still had his gun on."
Johnson, 45, faces two counts of sexual battery by a law enforcement officer in the Oct. 16 incident at an OPD substation.
In the state's opening statement, prosecutor Ryan Williams told jurors that "in the world and lives of people who are less fortunate," sometimes there isn't the option to say "no."
For the victim in this case, "you will learn that 'no' was not an option," he said.
Driven to a police substation in handcuffs after being arrested for driving in a stolen vehicle, the victim found herself sitting in front of Johnson inside the station: "He stood in his uniform... firearm at his side" as he began committing sex acts on her, Williams told the jury.
He also told jurors they'll hear Johnson change his account repeatedly in a recorded interview with his own agency, ultimately corroborating the victim's claim that he gave her cash during their encounter.
Johnson had already told her that he could have charged her with additional crimes, Williams said. "With the knowledge that she could potentially be charged with more," she succumbed to Johnson, the prosecutor said.
"You'll know that 'no' is not an option from the very beginning, even leading up to the substation," Williams said.
Johnson's attorney, Robert Nesmith, told jurors the woman was allowed into the substation because she said she needed the restroom. He acknowledged that his client later gave her money, but said that wasn't payment for anything.
"The evidence will not show in any way that anything improper took place in the substation," Nesmith said, noting that the woman didn't report any sex for several days: "No complaints, no sexual battery, no sex, no nothing."
Nesmith said the woman had motivation to concoct a story. The rape allegation, he said, effectively ended any possibility that she would be prosecuted on the grand theft charge Johnson arrested her on.
"So she had motivation... and she cared not who she hurt," Nesmith said.
The state later called the alleged victim, a 23-year-old woman who lives in Indiana. She testified that Johnson stopped her for a broken tail light, and later discovered the car she was driving was stolen.
Her initial impression of Johnson was positive; the officer told her that, though he could, he wasn't going to charge her for having marijuana in the car, or for driving with a suspended license.
"I was like, I just met a really cool officer and he was cool," she testified.
However, she said their interactions soon became flirtatious, with Johnson telling her she was cute, and asking if her mother was as "fine" as she was.
"I was weirded out, like, why is he asking about my mother?" she said on the witness stand Tuesday.
Johnson drove her to the substation and took her inside, she said, then exposed himself as she sat in a chair inches away.
"I did like I felt what he wanted me to do," and began performing a sex act on Johnson, she said. "I was scared... He's bigger than me, he's an officer. He still had his gun on."
After they had sex, she said Johnson gave her $40, money she ask said she never asked for: "I remember it bright as day, it was two $20 bills."
The woman didn't claim the sex was forcible; rather, Johnson suggested she could face additional charges if she didn't cooperate with him, she said. She reported the sexual battery after experiencing symptoms of a sexually transmitted disease, authorities have said.
Johnson has denied having sex with the woman.
In addition to the criminal case, an Orlando Police Department internal affairs investigators concluded that Johnson raped the woman, then lied about what had happened to his own agency.
"The evidence and testimony in this investigation is clear and convincing to prove Officer Johnson committed sexual battery by a law enforcement officer while on duty and in uniform," the IA report stated.
Johnson "was deceptive and dishonest" and "lied repeatedly," the report says.