Trial begins for Michael Anthony accused of sexual assault

Michael Anthony, 58, accused of raping a 20-year old girl and faces one count of sodomy, a first-degree felony.

LOGAN — The two-day bench trial for Michael Anthony, a 58-year-old Logan man accused of sexual assault started Thursday morning, as defense attorneys questioned prosecutor’s evidence and the victim’s testimony of the alleged event.

Anthony is accused of performing oral sex on a 20-year-old woman in a bathroom, during a 2013 Halloween party. The alleged victim said the assault happened after she became semi-unconscious from drinking and doing drugs at the party.

The victim testified in 1st District Court that she heard Anthony’s voice, saying how beautiful she was, as she felt herself being assaulted. She claimed she later woke up in a bedroom, downstairs in the home and had little memory of what else happened.

Former Logan City Police detective Scott Bodily, who investigated the case, read transcripts from his first interview with the victim. In them, she described drinking five glasses of tequila and then snorting what she thought was cocaine in the bathroom, before the alleged assault took place. She said the next memories she had was waking up in the morning, next to a “weird Arabian guy,” who she had never seen before. She also described being really sore and knowing something had happened to her.

Under cross examination, the victim began crying when defense attorney Wayne Caldwell asked her how she couldn’t remember specific details from that night except for Anthony’s voice.

A DNA swab was taken from the victim days after the alleged assault. It originally tested positive for male DNA, although after further testing, the sample failed to match Anthony’s DNA.

During opening arguments, Caldwell said the victim’s testimony along with the DNA test results showed that Anthony was wrongly accused.

<p class=”Standard”><span>Anthony is charged with forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony. He faces up to life in prison if found guilty.</span>

The trial is expected to conclude Friday afternoon

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