The first jury trial of 2021 is officially underway.
The trial is for Terrez Carter, a Lima man indicted on multiple charges, including rape and kidnapping. The trial was held in the Allen County Courthouse.
According to court records, Terrez Carter was indicted back in 2018 on three counts of rape, one count of kidnapping, one count of possession of cocaine, two counts of having weapons while under disability, three counts of rape with a firearm specification, and one count of kidnapping with a firearm specification.
According to prosecutors, there are two accusations of separate incidents of rape, with one occurring in 2015 and one occurring in 2018.
On Tuesday, a jury was selected and finalized for the trial. Wednesday morning, the jury trial officially began.
Opening statements were the first presentation during today's trial, with Assistant Chief Prosecutor Tony Miller presenting his statement to the panel of jurors.
Miller stated that the evidence that will be shown in the trial will show that rape occurred in both accusations.
"The alleged victims, in this case, might testify 'he was a great guy'...right until he wasn't." Miller stated to jurors. "Right up until his dark side was revealed.
Terrez Carter's Attorney Dustin Blake was next with his opening statement. In his statement, he stated that the women accusing carter of rape lack credibility, and have motivations to lie. Blake went further going on to explain that both had a relationship with the Carter prior to the date of the alleged crime.
"And I would submit to you, that the statements of dishonest women without corroboration and motive to make allegations that are untrue cannot and should not convict this man beyond a reasonable doubt," said Blake.
The first person to be called up to the stand was Mark Link, a Lima Uniform Patrol Officer. Link was the officer who took down the 2018 victims' statement about the alleged incident.
Link explained that when he was called to St. Ritas in Lima to take a report for an alleged victim of rape. Once he arrived, he learned from the nurse and the alleged victim's friend that the individual was distraught and did not originally want to share what happened.
"When I asked her what was going on with that, she said the alleged victim is very afraid of the suspect," said Link. "I said 'does she know who the suspect was?' and the alleged victim said 'Yes, Terrez Carter.' "
Link also stated that while he did not ask the alleged victim if she had consumed any drugs or alcohol, he did not see any signs that she was impaired.
The alleged 2018 victim also took the stand the share her story of what transpired on the date of the alleged crime, April 18th, 2018. She stated that she and Carter were up in the bedroom of his house, and events led up to Carter allegedly forcing himself upon her.
The defense questioned the alleged victim by sharing a series of text messages between her and Carter that were sexually explicit in nature, questioning if the two had a relationship prior to the alleged crime.
Stephanie Pierce, a registered nurse, was also brought up to the witness stand to testify. Pierce was the nurse who examined the alleged victim when she came to the hospital.
Pierce stated that during her examination, she saw signs of force on the alleged victim's body.
Also brought to the stand was Nicole Hall, an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation officer, and an I.D. officer from the Lima Police Department.
The trial is scheduled to continue Thursday morning.
