Motion to suppress statements in rape case denied
A Fayette County judge on Tuesday denied a motion to suppress statements that a homeless man charged with rape made to police after his arrest last year.
Judge Steve P. Leskinen also found that there was enough evidence for a jury to decide if Herbert Dale Conaway, 45, sexually assaulted a woman with Asperger’s syndrome on Aug. 11, 2011. Asperger’s syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder.
Conaway, who was living in a Uniontown shelter at the time of his arrest, is charged with rape, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault.
Uniontown police Patrolman Thomas Kolencik alleged that Conaway forced himself on a 22-year-old woman at a Habitat for Humanity building on North Beeson Avenue in Uniontown. The two were working there when the woman, who testified she also has bipolar disorder, said Conaway took her to an upstairs office, pushed her down and took her clothes off.
The woman testified repeatedly under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Gene Grimm that she was too afraid to say anything to Conaway during the alleged rape. The woman said she later told her boyfriend and then the woman in charge of the personal care home in which she lives.
She told Assistant Public Defender Mary Campbell Spegar the same thing during her cross-examination.
“I didn’t know what was going on. I was scared,” the woman said.
HeraldStandard.com does not identify alleged victims in sexual assault cases.
Conaway told police that the two did have sex, but that it was a consensual act.
Police Capt. David J. Rutter testified that when he interviewed Conaway after his arrest, he did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Rutter also testified that Conaway told him that he knew the alleged victim had developmental difficulties.
“He advised that he knew she wasn’t totally about herself,” Rutter testified.
In handing down his ruling from the bench, Leskinen said that lack of consent does not have to require fighting, but can arise by virtue of a mental impairment.
Conaway will be scheduled for trial at a later date.