Bryan Roche guilty of lesser charges, defense says in closing argument

CEDAR RAPIDS - Bryan Roche is guilty as charged, Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden said Thursday in his closing argument.

The crimes charged - first-degree kidnapping, first-degree sexual abuse, attempted murder and willful injury causing serious injury, are all premeditated acts, Vander Sanden said. Roche brought a set of 'throwing” knives, tape and condoms. He planned to tie up the victim and rape her.

'It's really a murder case where the victim survived,” Vander Sanden said. 'She only survived by luck and medical science. He wasn't going to give her a chance to run, to scream or to survive.”

Aaron Hamrock, Roche's attorney, said in his closing argument the burden of proof was with the state. The state didn't prove the charges it brought against Roche. He told the jury the defense never denied Roche sexually assaulted the woman or stabbed her but it's his intent they have to consider.

The jury started deliberations just past noon. Reporter Trish Mehaffey will have the verdict live when it comes in.

Roche is accused of sexually assaulting and stabbing a 20-year-old woman while holding her against her will for two hours April 21, 2013. The victim testified Roche sexually assaulted her more than once before stabbing her in the neck and abdomen. She managed to get away from him after being injured and locked herself in a bedroom but he stayed outside the door.

Doctors testified during the four day trial that the victim had life-threatening injuries and wouldn't have survived without emergency surgery.

Vander Sanden, in going over the elements of the charges, said he confined the woman and intended to commit sexual abuse. The definition of confinement, for this crime, is to restrict a person's movement without the freedom to move.

'Roche didn't just hold her down,” Vander Sanden said making a holding down action with his hands. 'He attacked this small woman from behind. He put her in a choke hold and incapacitated her.”

Roche then used tape to tie her hands behind her back and took her sock and stuffed it in her mouth, he said.

'He rendered her helpless,” Vander Sanden said. 'Then he raped her over and over.”

Vander Sanden said the victim was then stabbed in the neck and when she tried to get up, Roche stabbed in the stomach. She gets away and manages to lock the bedroom door but Roche stays outside the door until he sure she can't send him to jail.

'He only left when he thought she wouldn't survive,” Vander Sanden said. Hamrock asked the jury to look at these charges as four separate crimes. It wasn't a series of continuous acts as defined by the charges and what the state claims.

At some point, the sex abuse started and then ended. The woman's downstairs neighbor heard a muffled commotion and then he said it stopped.

Roche then walked over to the kitchen or his coat and got the knife. The neighbor probably heard the woman yelling at Roche. Roche told police he stabbed her because he wanted her to be quiet.

'He didn't say he wanted to kill her or for her to die,” Hamrock said.

Hamrock said for the first-degree kidnapping charge, confinement has to be more than what's required in the commission of sexual abuse.

'Tying her up and gagging her is what was required by Bryan to accomplish sexual assault,” Hamrock said. 'But her confinement did not rise to the level of first-degree kidnapping.”

Hamrock told the jurors he thought the lesser charges of each charge were appropriate and fit Roche's crimes that day. He said Roche was guilty of third-degree kidnapping, third-degree sexual abuse and assault causing serious injury.

Vander Sanden, on closing rebuttal said listening to the defense reminded him of a Simon and Garfunkel song he heard this morning - 'A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.” He said Hamrock picked out certain facts and disregarded others.

Roche rendered her unconscious, tied her hands behind her back, gagged her and cut off her clothes. He told her to lie down and he wouldn't hurt her. He stabbed her in the neck and when she got up, he stabbed her in the stomach.

'This is one unbroken chain of events,” Vander Sanden said. 'He planned to eliminate the evidence and victim. All (chain of events) connected for one purpose.”

Vander Sanden said the evidence presented supports the charges in this case.