Woman escorted out of Bend rape trial
Thomas Bray, a 38-year-old ex-COCC anatomy teacher, is accused of raping two Bend women in February of last year. On Monday, another woman who burst into the courtroom during testimony had to be escorted out by a Deschutes County sheriff’s deputy.
The incident began and ended very quickly. A woman wearing camouflage pants made a noisy entrance, then yelled at Circuit Judge Stephen Tiktin (hearing the case without a jury) to “have a heart.”
Tiktin ordered the woman be removed from the courtroom and never allowed back in. It wasn’t clear who the woman was or if she even knew anybody involved in Thomas Bray’s case.
At the request of his accusers, our cameras are not being allowed in the courtroom.
After all the drama of that woman’s appearance, a new drama began between the prosecution and defense. A Bend police detective took the stand Monday, testifying about what he found on Bray’s electronics, including his iPhone and laptop and external hard drives.
Prosecutors say three pornographic videos portraying bondage and public sexual humiliation, saved on one of Bray’s devices, show he wanted to rape women, saying the videos only fueled his urge to sexually abuse someone. But after an objection from the defense, the Judge wanted to hear why the state thought those videos were relevant to the case.
Deputy District Attorney Brigid Turner said, “The reason the defendant raped this woman is that’s his fantasy. He’s turned on and excited by raping people.”
Bray’s Portland defense attorney, Stephen Houze, shot back, saying the prosecution was simply trying to blacken his client’s character, adding, “This is evidence just to make him look bad, because he’s into pornography.”
Tiktin told them he was going to wait on his decision as to whether to let the information be used as evidence.
District Attorney Patrick Flaherty rested the state’s case Monday. The trial will continue Tuesday morning, with the defense calling its first witnesses.
