Appeals court overturns Bray’s rape conviction: What now?

The Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday vacated the 2012 conviction of a Bend man who’s in prison for raping a woman he met on a dating website, but the path ahead for a case that drew headlines for over a year is not totally set..

The appellate court said a judge erred in denying a motion that would have required the woman to comply with a subpoena and turn over her computer for a private inspection by the court for relevant evidence.

Bray was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the February 2011 rape of a 23-year-old woman. Bray taught at Central Oregon Community College and was a licensed anesthesiologist.

During the 2012 trial, Thomas Bray’s attorney repeatedly sought computer evidence before trial after learning the woman told investigators she had gone online to look for information about Bray and the legal definition of rape.

The state attorney general’s office has the option to appeal the ruling to the Oregon Supreme Court, and that decision should come in a few weeks, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel told NewsChannel 21.

Hummel said the hard drive i question is already in evidence. He said a judge will look at what’s on the hard drive and decide whether there was evidence that could have proved Bray’s innocence.

If the judge decides there was such evidence, a retrial could be set.

Though the case dates back to the tenure of predecessor DA Patrick Flaherty, Hummel said his office is ready to defend its case.

Hummel said his office contacted the victim, and she’s willing to again testify against Bray.

“It’s hard enough revealing intimate details of violent sexual assault that was done to you,” Hummel said. “Now you have to share your Facebook postings, your Google postings, your emails. But you know what? She (the alleged victim) says, ‘Regardless of that, I’m going forward, because what he did to me was wrong.’ And by god we’re going to stand behind her,.”