Homeless man’s sexual assault case goes to Colorado jury

Jurors are weighing the evidence in the case of a homeless man accused of sexual assault about 130 miles north of Colorado Springs near the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins.

The 39-year-old man faces the prospect of life in prison if convicted on the charges in the two cases.

Police say they have DNA evidence from two women connecting the man to the early 2011 assaults.

In one of the cases, a woman, 23, said she wasn’t aware of a sexual assault until after she’d reported a theft from her apartment. Responding officers urged her to get a hospital examination.

The defense contends the woman had consensual sex with the defendant, but because he’s homeless, she is embarrassed to own up to it publicly. Plus, the defense says, she admits she was intoxicated that night.

“Deep down she knows it was consensual,” the defendant’s attorney told the jury. “Deep down she knows she brought home a guy that night.”

The woman said she was assaulted on Jan. 23 of last year.

In the other case, a woman, 20, said she was sexually assaulted on Feb. 8 by an intruder armed with a knife. She said the intruder forced her to perform oral sex before he raped her.

The defense contends DNA evidence from the first woman, who the defense says willingly had sex with the defendant, was mixed up with evidence collected from the second woman.

The man is charged with seven counts of sexual assault, a count of second-degree kidnapping, two counts of theft and two counts of burglary, a drug possession charge and a count of felony menacing.