Richland County Common Pleas Judge James Henson will preside over the trial of Loy Hogan, an accused rapist and a criminal with a long history who is charged with a single count of rape after he allagedly raped the 55 year old developmentally disabled woman May 14, 2007. Judge Henson gave the victim a series of questions designed to test her conpetence to take the stand.
Henson asked the woman if she knew Hogan. After initially answering no, the woman changed her mind and pointed him out to the judge.
The judge asked the 55-year-old what a witness does. "Tell the truth," she said.
Because of a grand jury session in the morning, jury selection did not start until the afternoon. The process took four and a half hours. Only seven people were left in the pool when they were dismissed around 5 p.m.
When the trial resumes this morning, attorneys will give opening statements. Assistant Prosecutor Gary Bishop is handling the case for the state; Josh Brown is the defense attorney.
Bishop will not be able to tell the jury about Hogan's past. Hogan pleaded guilty in 1991 to two counts of statutory rape involving children younger than 13. He served 15 years in prison and was released in April 2006.
He was originally charged with five counts of rape, one count of gross sexual imposition and one count of felonious sexual penetration. A plea bargain spared him from a life sentence. A few months before that, Hogan was acquitted of aggravated murder by the suffocation death of his 5 week old son Justin. Phala Blake, then 18, pleaded guilty and agreed to serve a 15 years to life sentence and testify against Hogan. She'll be eligible for parole in 2010.
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