ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 12, 1996 TAG: 9612120048
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
EARL ANTHONY HELAIRE III denies he raped a Salem woman this past summer.
On the opening day of his trial Wednesday, Earl Anthony Helaire III denied raping a Salem woman last August. And in statements to police that were used as evidence by the prosecution, he denied having any sexual relationship with his accuser.
In her version of the evening of Aug. 20, the woman testified before a jury in Salem Circuit Court that Helaire was moving out of the apartment complex where they both lived. She said that, early in the evening, he dropped off some plants and dishes that he said he didn't need, then returned about 11 with another load.
After she let him in so she could close the door to keep her dog and cat from running out, the woman testified, Helaire asked to borrow a knife. She said he put it against her throat, held his hand over her mouth and led her to her bedroom.
"I assumed I was going to be raped, and I said please just put the knife away," the sobbing woman told the jury. She said Helaire placed the knife on a washing machine outside the bedroom.
The woman said she asked Helaire whether he had a condom because she was afraid of sexually transmitted disease. She said he showed her a condom and then raped her.
"I was still scared about what he would do with the knife," she said. "I was shaking like a leaf."
The woman said Helaire tried to flush the condom and its wrapper down the toilet before he left.
Police officers testified that they found a condom in the toilet bowl and part of a condom wrapper on the bedroom floor. They said numbers on the wrapper matched those on a box of condoms found in Helaire's apartment. Police said the condom was sent to a laboratory for DNA testing, but results had not been received.
In statements to police Aug. 20 - which were played to the jury Wednesday - Helaire said he had dropped off the plants and dishes but never entered the woman's apartment. He said he had borrowed a knife from her several weeks earlier.
Helaire, 33, is representing himself, with attorney Greg Phillips serving as co-counsel. He made an opening statement Wednesday, but did not take the stand. Phillips cross-examined the prosecution witnesses. Helaire is expected to testify today.
Before pleading his innocence Wednesday, Helaire was advised by Phillips, Commonwealth's Attorney Fred King and Circuit Judge G.O. Clemens to seek a postponement of the trial until the DNA results were returned. But the defendant, who has been in the Salem-Roanoke County Jail since his arrest, said he didn't have time to continue the case.
"If I spend a bunch of more time in jail, I might as well be convicted," said Helaire, a Louisiana native who said he is one quarter away from a bachelor's degree in liberal arts.
"If you get convicted, you'll have a lot more time than that," Clemens said.
If convicted, Helaire faces between five years and life in prison.
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