Thomas J. Cormier moments after he was acquitted of one count of rape on June 30, 2023, in Douglas County District Court.

A Douglas County jury on Friday acquitted a man accused of tying a woman to a bed and raping her.

The man, Thomas J. Cormier, 22, of Maple Grove, Minnesota, was charged with one count of rape, which was alleged to have occurred at his Lawrence apartment in October of 2021, as the Journal-World reported.

A jury of four women and eight men returned a not guilty verdict after nearly a day and a half of deliberations that centered on whether the woman had given consent.

Thomas J. Cormier hugs his attorney Christopher Joseph after a Douglas County jury acquitted him of rape on June 30, 2023, in Douglas County District Court.

Testimony in Cormier’s trial began on Tuesday when the woman, who is now 22, told the jury that the sexual contact between her and Cormier was at first consensual until it started to hurt and she began to bleed. She said that she excused herself to the bathroom and that when she was cleaning herself, Cormier came in and took a picture of her that she did not consent to.

The woman said she tried to leave after the incident in the bathroom, but Cormier convinced her to stay. That’s when she alleged he tied her hands above her head with a belt and sexually assaulted her. She said she was able to free her hands and told him no but he refused to stop. She said she eventually excused herself to the bathroom and found she was bleeding even more.

After the second visit to the bathroom Cormier convinced her to lay down with him again and repeatedly told her he wanted to have sex with her. The woman said she was scared of Cormier and that he was very aggressive throughout the night. She said she agreed to have sex with Cormier the next day just to appease him so he would finally allow her to leave.

Cormier, a former University of Kansas student who has since moved to Minnesota, took the stand Wednesday in his own defense and testified that he believed the whole encounter, from beginning to end, was consensual.

He said that he did not see any signs that the woman was afraid or uncomfortable when they were engaging in sexual activity despite her excusing herself multiple times because she was bleeding.

Cormier said that the woman’s story was partially correct — that they had only met recently, that they liked each other and decided to meet up, then started to get intimate after chatting for about an hour. What Cormier disagreed with was that the woman was afraid, was forced to stay in his bedroom or that he bound her against her will.

Cormier was represented by defense attorneys Christopher Joseph and Dionne Scherff, while the state was represented by Deputy District Attorney Joshua Seiden and Assistant District Attorney Samantha Foster.

Seiden said that Cormier’s defense attorney’s argument relied on some kind of “love triangle” between Cormier, the woman and a mutual friend. Seiden said the defense wanted jurors to believe that the woman had fabricated the sexual assault claims because she did not want to admit to her friend — who had wanted a relationship with Cormier — that she also was interested in Cormier. But Seiden said jurors should reject that argument because even Cormier, during his testimony, didn’t believe that to be the case.

Scherff, the defense attorney, in her closing arguments focused on the issue of consent. She said the woman never told Cormier that she was injured or that she did not want to engage in sexual contact. She said that it was her choice to go to Cormier’s apartment, her choice to stay after she began bleeding, and her choice to say that she was going to meet Cormier the next day for sex.

Scherff also showed the photo Cormier took of the woman in the bathroom. In it, the woman was smiling with Cormier’s arm wrapped around her. Scherff said that was the only glimpse at how the woman was feeling that night, in part because police did not collect video footage from the exterior of the apartment complex. The woman testified that she left the apartment complex running in fear and “streaked with blood.” Scherff, though, said jurors were never able to see if that was the case, but they were able to see the photo from the bathroom incident.

“Seeing is believing,” Scherff said.

Cormier was discharged after the verdict was read. He had previously been free on a $75,000 bond.

Editor’s note: This story has been edited to correct the date on which Cormier was acquitted and Deputy District Attorney Joshua Seiden’s title.