SEATTLE OFFICE
3600 15th Ave. W., #300
Seattle, WA 98119
206.448.1777
Fax 206.728.2131
HOQUIAM OFFICE
413 Eighth Street
Hoquiam, WA 98550
360.533.2710
Fax 360.532.8032
Reply to Seattle Office

October 13, 2017

www.stritmatter.com

To Whom It May Concern Part 2:

We do not live in a society where a 21 year old college student can feel safe enough to pursue
criminal charges against a celebrity for an alleged rape.
If in a moment of panic and fear she immediately calls 911, she will be interviewed, detained,
and then sent to a hospital where a rape kit will be administered. Hours later after she is allowed
to return home, she will look at her phone only to be besieged by text messages of screen shots
of internet articles already describing the incident. Before her initial tears have dried her phone
will ring and she will belatedly realize that she is talking to a reporter who is trying to befriend
her. How did this reporter get my number…will echo through her mind.
As she cries alone in her apartment with mounting hysteria, she will learn that the celebrity and
his lawyer are issuing public statements that her “allegation is devoid of credibility and is
motivated by greed and vindictiveness.” That her agenda is “money, fame and notoriety.” That
she is making a “dangerous, fraudulent allegation to accomplish her own goals.” And that they
will “pursue every legal option to address this defaming claim.”
The investigating detective will ask that she attend a joint meeting with the prosecutor’s office to
give a full recorded statement. Even though she remains distraught and frightened somehow she
will summon the courage to give the interview on Monday Oct. 9. The detective promises that
no one will know that she has met with them until the investigation is closed. Her privacy is
assured. On Tuesday Oct. 10 the Commander of the police department issues a statement to the
media advising that she met with the police and prosecutor that Monday. The detective
apologizes on Wednesday Oct. 11 and says: “Regardless, I gave the victim my word that the
interview would not be shared during this early part of the investigation, and I failed her with
that promise.”
Every step of the way since the time she called 911, she wishes she had not. Not because what
happened didn’t occur exactly the way she described it. Not because she did not want the police
to charge the celebrity with alleged rape.
She wishes she had not called 911 because the she believes the system is going to fail her.

 To Whom It May Concern Part 2:
October 13, 2017
Page 2
She wonders who is she to go by her small “unimportant” self against a celebrity. Who will
believe her. People are saying horrible things already. She cannot handle this. She is about to
break. She wants to close the door. She wants this to end. She just cannot bear it.
And so, today she is telling the Auburn Police Department and the King County Prosecutor’s
Office to put a halt to the criminal investigation of Cornell Haynes, Jr. (aka “Nelly”). She will
not testify further in a criminal proceeding against him.
She never wanted notoriety. She never wanted a dime from that man.
She wants to go back to school and to graduate. And this she cannot do if she remains hidden in
her room, crying her heart out.
One day, maybe our world will change and thirty women will not be needed to (eventually)
speak out against a celebrity who has hurt them in order to be believed. But that day has not yet
come.
Very truly yours,

Karen Koehler
cc: client