4:32 p.m. update
A Washington County jury took about 30 minutes Tuesday afternoon to find Cesar Michael Figueroa, 24, of Springdale, guilty of raping a young woman Sept. 2, 2012, in a parking lot at the edge of the University of Arkansas campus.
12:09 p.m. update
The defense has now rested in the rape trial of Ceasar Michael Figueroa.
Figueroa, 24, is charged with two counts of rape in connection with the Sept. 2, 2012 assault of a woman in a parking lot on the edge of the University of Arkansas campus. Prosecutors say DNA ties Figueroa to the incident.
The jury is expected to hear closing arguments in the case this afternoon.
Original story
FAYETTEVILLE -- Prosecutors say Cesar Michael Figueroa, 24, left a bit of DNA on the shirt worn by a rape victim, tying him to the 2012 assault on the northeast edge of the University of Arkansas campus.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a crime scene drama, it's real life in Fayetteville, Arkansas," Amy Driver, a Washington County deputy prosecuting attorney told jurors Monday.
The 23-year-old victim testified Monday she was walking home from Dickson Street about midnight Sept. 2, 2012. She'd been to a Razorback football game that afternoon, then went out with friends for awhile. She called her roommate as she started the five minute walk home.
"Once I got in the parking lot, I was attacked from behind and thrown to the ground," the victim said. "I tried to fight a lot, it was hard. I was on all-fours and screaming -- really loud."
The woman said she was sexually assaulted and her attacker threatened to kill her but she did not see a weapon and kept screaming. The man eventually got up and ran away. She was not able to get a good description of him.
"I didn't see specifics because of the way I was attacked and the positioning," she said.
Her roommate heard the screaming, called police and came outside but was not able to get a good look at the man as he fled, she said.
The victim suffered cuts, scrapes and bruises and her underwear was torn off and later found in the parking lot by police.
The break in the case came in August 2013 when the Arkansas State Crime Lab got a match between a single evidence sample from the victim's shirt and Figueroa's DNA, Jennifer Beatty, a forensic DNA analyst testified by video link from the Crime Lab to the courtroom.
Beatty had submitted DNA from the crime scene to a state DNA database in September or November 2012 because she had no suspect to compare it to. Figueroa's DNA was collected as the result of an unrelated arrest and submitted to the database. Police cleared several potential suspects before the match was made.
Figueroa was brought in for questioning and told university police in an interview he wanted to have his way with the woman, followed her from Dickson Street and attacked her in a dark corner of a parking lot just off Maple Street.
"I came back behind her and I attacked her," Figueroa told police. He also said he threatened the woman but denied there was any sexual assault.
Figueroa faces two counts of rape, each carrying a potential sentence of 10 to 40 years or life in prison. He is expected to testify today.
The state rested its case late Monday afternoon. Prosecutor Matt Durrett said he will not entertain lesser included charges of attempted rape or sexual assault when the case goes to the jury for deliberation.
NW News on 03/03/2015