Conflicting quotes highlight testimony in E. Rochester man's rape trial

John Stonis looks back in the courtroom as his trial gets under way Thursday at Strafford County Superior Court. With him his defense team, Carl Swenson, left, and Alec Miran (Rochester Voice photos

DOVER - Vicious rape or rough consensual sex.

That will be the ultimate factor a jury will have to decide in determining whether an East Rochester man spends decades in state prison for what happened at 7 Gina Drive in the early morning hours of Sept. 30, 2017, or goes free.

John Stonis, 31, of 7 Gina Drive, is charged with eight counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault in the case as well as witness tampering and several simple assaults against the victim and two officers who responded to the scene around 1 a.m.

Rochester Police Officer Spencer Williams-Hurley testifies during the first day of the John Stonis rape trial at Strafford County Superior Court on Thursday.

On Thursday opening arguments revealed that the prosecution and defense strategies will be based largely on he-said, she-said testimony, including the 61-year-old victim who is expected to testify.

It is not known yet whether Stonis will also take the stand.

Assistant County Attorney Kayla Turner told the jury in opening arguments that Stonis came home late on Sept. 29 and urged the victim to get out of bed where she was watching TV and have a toast.

She joined him, but the discussion soon turned argumentative, with Stonis insulting her, Turner said, prompting the victim to leave the table and go back to bed.

"He drank a lot, she left and he kept on drinking," Turner said.

What happened next, Turner said, was horrific and savage.

She said Stonis got drunk, then went into the bedroom and demanded sex. When she refused, he grabbed her and she fell out of bed and ran into the livingroom where he threw her on the carpet, pinned her arms behind her and began to strangle her till she lost consciousness.

As she regained consciousness, she found herself on her stomach and he told her, "Where you want it" and "Spread it or it will hurt more," Turner told the jury.

Stonis then raped her twice, Turner said.

The victim finally escaped after Stonis went to the bathroom, and she called 911 and ran out of the house naked, where a responding officer found her upon his arrival and got her a blanket.

But public defender Carl Swenson argued a far different scenario than that portrayed by Turner.

He told the jury Stonis had just returned from a birthday party for his twin sons, a birthday party the victim, with whom he'd had a long-term relationship, had not been invited.

Knowing she'd be depressed, he bought a bottle of whiskey and some videos to watch to cheer her up.

But the friendly toast he'd proposed soon turned into a messy, combative argument in which he questioned whether they should end their long-term commitment to one another.

"He knew he would return to an angry (victim), and when he got home he saw (victim) was already drinking," Swenson said. "They argued about pets (they both had several), used cars, money issues and then began to have sex."

Swenson said that the sex was rough and consensual, a bedroom practice they often employed along with role playing.

Swenson also argued that the abrasions the victim suffered, including vaginal abrasions, were consistent with rough, consensual sex.

He said the victim calling police was a result of her bipolar disorder, depression, panic attacks, and anger over the couple's earlier arguments that night.

The first witnesses called were three Rochester Police officers and a paramedic who responded to the scene, followed by a detective in charge of the case, Matthew Flathers.

Rochester Police Officer Spencer Williams-Hurley said when he arrived at the scene the victim was out in the front yard naked. He said he quickly called her to come over behind his cruiser where he got her a blanket.

"She said she wasn't safe with (Stonis) anymore," were among the first things she said, Williams-Hurley testified.

But on cross examination by Swenson, Williams-Hurley also testified the victim said, "It's my fault" as two other officers brought Stonis out of the house after placing him under arrest.

It also came to light on Thursday that the victim has recanted her accusations twice in the nearly two and a half years since the incident.

Swenson argued the reason was because she knew they were false in the first place, while Turner said often rape victims who still have feelings about their former partners often do things that are "counterintuitive."

The trial continues on Tuesday.