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Victim takes the stand as rape trial begins

Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

HUDSON — The trial of a Ghent man accused of rape and criminal sex acts with an underage relative got underway in Columbia County court Tuesday with the testimony of one of the alleged victims.

Rande Guy Both, 39, stands accused of 21 counts of criminal sex acts with a child, rape and endangering the welfare of a child, which authorities said occurred over the course of several years.

Cheryl Coleman, Both’s attorney, worked to prove that the accusations against her client were untrue.

Tuesday the witness, now 16, told the court that Both had forced her to have sexual intercourse on several different occasions, including in September, October and November 2006 and Easter weekend 2007. On some occasions she said she was plied with alcohol.

She spoke in a monotone and intermittently cried during the day-long testimony.

Both, wearing a light brown suit and tie, sat next to his attorney, his hands shaking slightly during parts of the testimony.

The proceedings were stopped and the jury shuttled in and out of the courtroom numerous times Tuesday as Coleman and Judge Paul Czajka discussed points of law.

“Don’t engage me in an argument before the jury,” Czajka told Coleman at one point after the attorney insisted she be heard at the bench.

Coleman had brought up a line of questioning involving where the witness was currently living. She said she had reason to believe the victim had been living in Ghent with a non-family member.

Senior Assistant District Attorney David Costanzo objected to the question and Czajka sustained it.

“Don’t point your finger at me,” Czajka told Coleman as she argued that the questions she intended to ask wouldn’t be of a sexual nature. In New York state there is a section of criminal law, 60.42, also known as the rape shield law, that prevents attorneys from bringing up the past sexual history of victims during trial.

Czajka said in court that he believed Coleman would be making an “inference” as to the nature of the relationship between the witness and the person Coleman stated she was living with. Czajka said he would bar those questions.

The sparring continued throughout the day. At one point Coleman accused the judge of “demeaning” her in front of the jury and treating her like a child after Czajka reworded a question she had asked the witness.

“I’ve never had these types of problems [in other counties]. I’m having a hard time today,” said Coleman.

Czajka responded by asking her if the other courts followed the same criminal procedures as Columbia County.

Coleman spent the greater part of the day trying to poke holes in the testimony of the alleged victim, who answered many of the questions with “I don’t remember.”

The defense attorney questioned why the victim, who first reported the incidents in North Carolina, hadn’t been as specific in that instance as she had when talking with New York authorities.

The witness, when asked by Costanzo, said that she hadn’t given specific time periods because North Carolina police didn’t ask for them.

Both is facing a related charge in North Carolina, stemming from testimony made by the same relative as in the Columbia County case.

An arrest warrant from Hendersonville County, N.C., from Aug. 31, 2007 indicates Both was charged with one count of “indecent liberties with a child” for “attempted immoral, improper, or indecent liberties with a child under the age of 16.”

The case in North Carolina is scheduled for trial after this trial ends.

Costanzo asked the witness whether she had tried to resist Both during the alleged sex acts.

“I would tell him to stop,” she said.

Another issue brought up by Coleman was a text message written by the witness that said she planned on dropping the charges.

Later the witness said that at the time she wanted to move on with her life.

“I didn’t want to be here talking about it,” the alleged victim said with tears in her eyes.

On the stand the witness admitted to Coleman that she had written the text as a sort of leverage against Both in signing off on a drivers permit.

“I did want him to help me get my permit,” she said.

After the jury was let go for the day Czajka handed Coleman a list of names, presumably from the NYS Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Coleman answered that she didn’t want to file a complaint, saying that she had simply been “working hard” to assure her client the best possible defense.

“You made several statements about me in public,” answered Czajka. “Words have meaning.”

To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx please call (518) 828-1616, ext. 2267, or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com

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