Trial begins for Cape man charged with robbery, rape

A jury trial began Tuesday for Samuel Taylor, a Cape Girardeau man charged with first degree robbery and forcible rape, but was cut short due to the weather.

Taylor, 30, of 2804 Themis St. Apt. 2, allegedly raped an older woman in the early morning hours of March 12, 2004, on Cape Girardeau's south side.

A jury of five men and eight women, one of whom will serve as an alternate, was selected for the trial.

Though the rape was reported in 2004, the charges against Taylor were not filed until March 2007.

Prosecuting attorney Jack Koester said during an opening statement that the rape case went unsolved for nearly three years until DNA evidence linked Taylor to the crime.

"DNA cannot answer the real questions in this case," said Amy Metzinger, Taylor's public defender, during the defense's opening statement.

The victim took the stand and testified that she had been visiting friends that evening in 2004 and left after midnight, deciding to walk home. She was approached by a man wearing a trench coat and black shades who told her he was looking for drugs, she said.

At some point during the encounter, she was struck on head with an unknown object, and knocked out cold, she testified during direct examination.

She said she pleaded for her life when she regained consciousness, but did not get a good look at her assailant as he crouched over her.

She testified that she was then struck a second time, again knocked unconscious, and that when she woke up, she was alone, and her purse and keys were missing.

Her testimony along with cross examination, as well as the conclusion of the trial, are expected to continue at 9 a.m. today, as the courthouse was closed at 3:30 p.m. because of the severe weather watch.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245