Trial in Casper Man Accused of Sexual Assault at Gunpoint Delayed
The trial for a Casper man accused of sexually assaulting multiple women at gunpoint will begin a month after its original start date.
Samuel J. Barrett was initially scheduled to go on trial for more than a dozen sexual assault charges on Feb. 3. However, due to what defense attorney Don Fuller described as "mountains" of electronic evidence being recently received by Barrett's defense attorneys, the trial has been moved to March 16.
The deadline for prosecutors to hand over evidence to defense attorneys is Friday. However, it's expected to take much longer for defense attorneys to be able to adequately review the evidence.
Also at issue during a motion hearing Thursday afternoon was whether to preclude evidence showing that Barrett and an alleged victim had a prior consensual sexual relationship before the alleged sexual assault took place.
Assistant Natrona County District Attorney Kevin Taheri argued that the consensual acts had no bearing on the alleged assault.
However, Fuller said if jurors do not hear that Barrett and an alleged victim had a consensual relationship, they would be led to believe the only encounter Barret and one of the alleged victims happened during the assault. Fuller also noted that Barrett and an alleged victim had a relationship in which money was exchanged for sex.
District Court Judge Daniel Forgey ruled that the evidence is admissible.
The trial is expected to last six days.