In ex-Haskell student’s trial, defense argues that sex was consensual; woman says it was rape

The woman accusing two former Haskell Indian Nations University students of raping her wasn’t one to show much emotion, her best friend told jurors Tuesday afternoon.

But in the early-morning hours of Nov. 15, 2014, the woman — then a 19-year-old freshman at the school — was found in her dormitory shower, crying, her friend said.

“She was speaking slowly and she started crying and she was shaking,” she said.

Tuesday the woman and her friend both testified during the criminal trial of one of the two men accused of the crime.

The suspect currently on trial is 20 years old and faces two felony rape charges and one felony count of aggravated criminal sodomy. The second suspect is 21 years old and faces felony counts of aiding and abetting attempted rape and two counts of rape.

The trial began Monday morning with jury selection. On Tuesday morning prosecutor Catherine Decena and defense attorney Sarah Swain gave their opening statements.

The incident, Decena told jurors, was a “betrayal of trust” between friends who had known each other since high school.

However, Swain argued that the woman had a consensual sexual encounter with the two men and then “for whatever reason” chose to report the incident as rape.

Tuesday morning and into the afternoon the victim told jurors her side of the story.

On the night of Nov. 14 leading into Nov. 15, the woman, the suspects and several friends were drinking and spending time together in the university’s dormitory, she said. Both she, her friend and the suspects lived on the second floor. The group spent a significant amount of time that evening and morning in the suspects’ room.

As the morning progressed, well past the dormitory’s 2 a.m. curfew, the victim was left alone with the two suspects in their dorm room, she said. At first she thought nothing of the turn of events because they were all friends, but then the 21-year-old suspect locked the room’s door, turned out the lights and went to kiss the woman, she said.

“I pushed him away, told him, ‘cut it out, stop,'” she said. “He started pushing himself on me and being more aggressive.”

The woman asked the 20-year-old suspect for help, thinking he was asleep, she said. He then approached and held her down as his roommate raped her, she said. The assault continued for several more minutes before the woman was able to leave the room, she said.

After leaving the suspects’ room, the woman went to shower before her friends found her and heard about the incident, she said. They then called police, who arrived on the scene and took her to the hospital.

The two suspects were arrested that day and later released from the Douglas County Jail after each posted a $75,000 bond. Both were expelled from the school after the incident.

The trial, which is scheduled to last eight days, is scheduled to continue at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

The trial for the 21-year-old suspect is scheduled to begin July 25.