Suspect in rape case to face trial

A Mountain Home man accused of raping a Treasure Valley woman in September is due back in court Dec. 2 to face the felony charge.

D'Angelo A. Sewell, 21, was bound over to district court last Thursday following a preliminary hearing at the Elmore County Courthouse.

Sewell, a senior airman assigned to the 726th Air Control Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base, is accused of raping the woman as she slept.

The alleged incident happened the morning of Sept. 7 following a party at a local residence.

The woman testified that she was invited to spent the weekend with another man at his residence. In the hours leading up to the alleged assault, she attended a party at the home in which other individuals were invited.

While admitting to having a couple of drinks that left her feeling "buzzed," the victim emphasized that she wasn't intoxicated.

The victim then told prosecutor Jessica Kuehn that she planned to have sex that night with the man who invited her to his home. However, she emphasized that those plans never included having sex with Sewell.

Following that initial sexual encounter, the woman then fell into a deep asleep due to the prescription medications that she took that evening. Sewell is accused of entering the bedroom sometime later and began having sex with the woman, who was awoken around 3 a.m. Sept. 7.

During her testimony, the victim was alarmed by the aggressive behavior during the second sexual encounter, leading her to suspect this was not the same person.

"This person was not letting me go," she said. "He was just quiet."

Unable to identify who the person was in the darkened bedroom, she said that she deliberately fell off the bed to get away.

At that point, she entered the bathroom and turned on a light, where she was able to identify Sewell.

"I feel the sexual assault was not consensual," she told the prosecutor.

Following the alleged incident, the victim admitted that she didn't call a friend or a taxi to get away because she was confused and afraid of what had happened. While she felt that her friend would do the right thing and turn Sewell over to the authorities, she also believed that the assault may have been planned.

In his client's defense, attorney Charles Crafts said there was a limited amount of questionable evidence presented during the hearing. He argued that despite her semi-conscious state, the victim was able to remember minute details of the alleged assault. For example, Crafts said the victim was able to identify differences in the type of clothing her assailant was wearing.

In response, Kuehn highlighted previous testimony presented by police detectives and special agents from Mountain Home Air Force Base. Their statements indicated that Sewell admitted to having sex with the woman without her consent.

During his ruling at Thursday's hearing, Judge George Hicks said the evidence presented during the preliminary hearing indicates that the victim did not give her consent to have sex with Sewell. As a result, the alleged assault meets the definition of rape since she was unconscious and unable to resist, the judge added.

If convicted, Sewell faces a minimum of one year in prison with the maximum punishment of life in prison. He has been released from custody after posting a $10,000 bond.