By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

Hector Rosales

WARSAW — Multiple witnesses testified during the second day of a jury trial for a teenager accused of raping and battering a person in Kosciusko County.

Hector Rosales, also known as Ector Joel Rosales Miralda, 19, Warsaw, is charged with two counts of rape, both level 3 felonies; and strangulation, intimidation, and battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, all level 6 felonies.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joseph Sobek continued the state’s case on Tuesday, May 16, by calling Warsaw Police Detective Sergeant Ryan Coble for testimony.

Coble said he was the on-call detective when the alleged rape was reported and drove the victim to the Fort Wayne Sexual Assault Treatment Center, where a sexual assault kit was completed.

WPD Officer Alvaro Aguillon assisted with translation throughout multiple facets of the investigation, including an interview with Rosales, which Coble sat in on.

The recorded interview was played for the jury, with an English translation of the conversation between Rosales and Aguillon provided as paperwork. Initially, Rosales said he remembered kissing the victim but blacked out. He later admitted to having sex with the victim after they opened their bedroom door for him.

When the victim realized Rosales was drunk, they asked Rosales to leave.

Coble also instructed Aguillon to ask the residents of the home where the incident occurred if they heard or saw anything, as all of the home’s occupants did not speak English.

Aguillon asked the residents about this when multiple WPD officers went to the home to serve a search warrant in order to collect physical items as evidence. These items included a piece of carpet with a vomit stain, and a bed sheet and comforter from the victim’s bed.

Coble testified the physical items were collected due to discrepancies in stories from the victim and Rosales, as Rosales had mentioned in his interview with Aguillon a prior incident where the two had consensual sex.

In cross-examination, Defense Attorney Jay Rigdon asked Coble why the residents were not interviewed one-on-one about the incident. Coble said he and Aguillon believed none of the other residents had information about the case since they had been previously asked if they did.

Evidence from a sexual assault nurse examiner and Indiana State Police forensic scientist was also presented to the jury by Sobek.

Shawn Callahan, a forensic nurse examiner at the Fort Wayne Sexual Assault Treatment Center, said the victim told her Rosales had sexual intercourse and oral sex with them. The examiner noticed injuries near the victim’s mouth and scratches on their upper right thigh.

Christopher Thatch, a forensic scientist with ISP, said he analyzed the physical items collected from the scene and the sexual assault kit completed on the victim. Thatch testified that swabs from the victim’s neck, face, lips, abdomen, thigh, buttock and external genital areas all showed a very strong inclusion for both Rosales’s and the victim’s DNA.

Rigdon questioned the chain of custody the physical items went through prior to their arrival at the ISP lab, and asked Thatch if DNA tells scientists if the interactions were consensual or not. Thatch said the DNA would not determine that.

Sobek rested the prosecution’s case early in the afternoon, with Rigdon calling four individuals who lived in the home when the incident occurred for testimony.

One man said Rosales and the victim are both his cousins. He testified that he did not hear yelling or any other unusual noises the night the alleged rape occurred. The cousin also stated he would have helped the victim if they had asked him, regardless of his relation to Rosales.

Eduar Almendarez, Eliezer Almendarez, and Nancy Martinez also testified. All three said they did not know about the rape report until a day or two after it happened, with all in agreement they would have helped the victim if they had been asked to do so. None of them heard any yelling or unusual noises.

The trial continues at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 17.

Related Article

• Jury Trial Begins For Warsaw Teenager Accused Of Rape, Battery