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Rape trial continues for Campbell man
A second defendant was fatally shot last December.
YOUNGSTOWN — The prosecutor told a jury that Keith Nunez raped a 14-year-old girl in a Campbell apartment, but Nunez’s lawyer said the sex was consensual.
A seven-woman, five-man jury heard opening statements Tuesday in the trial of Nunez, 19, of Porter Avenue, Campbell, on two counts of rape.
The jury viewed the apartment where the crimes allegedly occurred Dec. 9, 2006, before hearing opening statements in Nunez’s trial. Testimony resumes at 9 a.m. today. The trial is being conducted before Judge Timothy E. Franken of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Nunez and another Campbell man, Ronald Harrison, were indicted on the same two rape counts in the same incident when the case was presented directly to the county grand jury May 10, 2007.
Harrison, of Bright Avenue, was shot to death last December at age 19 by a Campbell resident who said Harrison tried to rob him at his home, and the rape charges against Harrison were dismissed after his death.
Police found Harrison lying in the street outside the Porter Avenue residence, bleeding from his mouth, with a nylon stocking cap over his head and face and a pellet gun nearby. The man who shot Harrison was not charged with any crime.
The alleged rape victim was an overnight guest in the home of one of her female contemporaries, where Nunez and Harrison were also guests on the night of the alleged rapes, Natasha K. Frenchko, assistant county prosecutor, told the jury in her opening statement.
The parents of the alleged victim’s friend had gone to bed early, and Nunez, Harrison and a third young man were playing cards and dominos, Frenchko said.
The men and the alleged victim drank rum and smoked marijuana, and the alleged victim became high and drunk, Frenchko said.
“The defendant welcomed that because, with that, he saw an opportunity to take advantage of a young girl and sexually assault her,” Frenchko said.
However, Nunez’s lawyer, David Engler, said the alleged victim sat next to Nunez on the couch, flirted with Nunez, made sexual suggestions and consented to sexual intercourse with him.
“The evidence will not show at any point in time that Keith Nunez knew or had reason to know that this girl was substantially impaired,” Engler told the jurors.
The father of the alleged victim’s friend emerged from a bedroom, saw Nunez having intercourse with the alleged victim, and ordered Nunez and Harrison to leave, Engler said. “You’ll not hear any evidence of any force. ...You’ll hear evidence of a consensual relationship,’’ Engler added.
If convicted, Nunez faces three to 10 years in prison on each rape count.