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Witnesses take stand in WSU rape case

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By Anna Bolton

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XENIA — The jury trial for an alleged rape that occurred on Wright State University’s campus in November of 2015 resumed Wednesday morning as six witnesses took the stand.

Myron Walker, 19, is being tried on three charges: two counts of rape, a felony of the first degree, and one count of gross sexual imposition, a felony of the fourth degree.

The victim testified on the first day of the trial, describing to the jury the alleged assault that she said happened in a dorm room.

Wednesday’s witnesses included a WSU student, three WSU police officers, and two forensic scientists from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), or the state’s crime lab.

According to testimony, the victim went to the hospital in the hours following the alleged assault, where a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) conducted an exam. WSU Police Officer Kevin Long collected the resulting “rape kit,” which was later tested at BCI.

Various witnesses, including Long, described the victim after the alleged assault as “distraught,” “confused,” and “scared.”

Long also testified — when questioned by defense attorney Carl Goraleski — that Walker was cooperative and polite during the interview that followed the alleged events.

As testimony continued, the court heard from two BCI forensic scientists.

According to Alex Thiel, an expert in forensic biology, tests did not identify semen on any three of the swabs from the victim’s body, and were inconclusive for seminal fluid on the victim’s underwear. Thiel said that amylase, an enzyme present in digestive juices, including saliva, was positively identified on the underwear.

Goraleski questioned Thiel about whether or not the amylase could be found in bodily fluids other than saliva, such as urine or feces. Thiel testified that it could most likely be found in all bodily fluids, but it would be less concentrated.

“Concentrations are 100 times greater in saliva than any other bodily fluid,” she said.

Testimony revealed that following Thiel’s tests, Hallie Dreyer, an expert in forensic DNA, tested the items in the rape kit and the buccal (oral) swabs that had previously been taken from Walker’s mouth.

According to Dreyer, Walker could not be excluded as a contributor to DNA found on the victim’s underwear and two swabs from the victim’s body.

Testifying from her (Dreyer’s) DNA analysis report, the likelihood that the DNA results from the victim’s underwear could include a contributor other than Walker is statistically 1 in 387,400,000 individuals, she said.

“To have to test 387 million people … then yes, that is a rare profile,” Dreyer said.

Dreyer continued testimony, also sharing the results from a swab taken from the victim’s neck. The estimated frequency of the DNA profile that matched Walker was 1 in 2-sextillion individuals, she said.

“That’s not only more than the population of the earth, that’s more than the population that’s ever lived on the planet,” Dreyer said.

Following testimony, the state rested. The defense will proceed Thursday morning.

Anna Bolton | Xenia Daily Gazette Defense attorney Carl Goraleski and defendant Myron Walker listen as the trial continues Wednesday.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2017/01/web1_Walker-1.jpgAnna Bolton | Xenia Daily Gazette Defense attorney Carl Goraleski and defendant Myron Walker listen as the trial continues Wednesday.

Reach Anna Bolton at 937-502-4498.