Trial has begun for Cedar City police detective Kelvin Orton, who is accused of raping a Kanarraville, Iron County, woman in 1992.
The woman testified Monday that Orton raped her at her home after the two met at an anti-drug presentation to Girl Scouts at a church.The woman said that as Orton's police partner, Lane Russell, delivered the presentation, she and Orton sat off to the side and talked.
Two days later, Orton went to her home, and after they had talked for 15 to 20 minutes, "I then told him I was going to put on my nightclothes, hoping he'd get the hint that I was tired and that he should go home. He said `fine' and stayed," she testified.
She said that when she came back out she was wearing underwear and a T-shirt that went nearly to her knees.
She said she sat on his lap and he kissed her and put her on the floor on her back. The woman testified that at that point, she started to tell him "no" and did so several times.
She said she tried to push him off but did not scream out because she didn't want her 8-year-old daughter to come out. She said she did not fight because she was afraid she would get hurt worse.
The case is being tried before retired 5th District Judge Don Tibbs, who agreed to hear it after other judges had recused themselves or had conflicts with the dates.
"You will not hear that she screamed, bit or hit, but she did struggle," Deputy Davis County Attorney Bill McQuire told the 10-member jury. "But the law only requires her to say `no,' and she said `no' several times."
The Davis County attorney's office is prosecuting the case because Iron County attorneys have con-flicts of interest.
Defense attorney Ron Yengich of Salt Lake City said Orton wasn't present at the time of the alleged crime. He told the jury that the case is full of holes, including a lack of physical evidence or witnesses who could testify about bruises on the woman.
The woman testified that she did not report the incident until several months after it occurred.
Entries from her diary, read to the jury by McQuire, mention a forced sexual encounter the night in question but does not say with whom. An entry three days later describes her relationship with Russell, who was Orton's partner at the time.
Russell and the woman have since married and now live in Arizona.
A taped telephone conversation was introduced Monday in which Orton and the woman promised not to tell anyone what had happened. The tape isn't clear as to what the agreement entailed. The prosecution claims they are both promising not to tell Russell about the alleged rape since it would jeopardize each of their relationships with him.
The alleged rape came to light in December 1994 when Dave Keller, a Cedar City businessman, went to trial on arson charges for which Orton was the investigating officer. Just days before Keller's trial, newsletters were mailed to nearly every resident of Iron County naming Orton as a rapist.
Keller was found guilty of criminal mischief, a misdemeanor.