WARSAW — Prosecution continued its case this morning Wednesday, Aug. 24, against Oscar S.McDowell in Kosciusko Circuit Court. McDowell was charged with rape, sexual battery, criminal confinement and failure to appear, stemming from an alleged rape Aug. 9/10, 2014, in the parking lot at Wyndham Gardens, Warsaw.

Two witnesses took the stand — Shaun Belin and Warsaw Police Detective Jeff Technor.

Belin’s testimony focused on his two encounters with the victim – before and after the alleged rape. His testimony also included the locations he encountered the victim on both occasions, what he observed and actions taken by himself.

The main witness was Technor. He explained his involvement in the investigation, action taken, and the investigation leading to McDowell being a suspect and charged. The “rap” names of McDowell and a former suspect in the case, Charles Williams, were noted as SinnaSin and BC. The assistance of Chicago Police Department was also noted. (Editor’s note: Charges against Williams were later dismissed.)

The prosecution attempted to have entered into evidence a snapshot of conversations taken from the victim’s Facebook account with McDowell. The defense objected noting there were no names attributed to any of the comments and anyone could have typed those comments. The judge, Michael Reed, ruled in favor of the defense. It was also noted the defense had not been given the 10-page document during discovery. The judge read the county rule stating anything not submitted during discovery 14 days prior to the trial was not admissible.

It was noted during Technor’s testimony a photo of the license plate of the vehicle which left the scene after the alleged rape was used to locate the vehicle. The photo, it was stated, was taken by the victim’s relative and given to police.

Several recesses of the case were called, where discussion of issues were held without the presence of the jury. One matter dealt with a supplemental police report which was going to be used as reference by Technor. The defense stated it was not in receipt of that document. While the document may have been given to a previous defense counsel it was not available to the current counsel. A copy was made and provided.

The final recess of the morning was to allow Technor to hear a recorded telephone conversation allegedly between McDowell and Warsaw Police Detective Paul Heaton and Brad Kellar. The recording was allowed to be used as evidence.