Jury finds Elmore man guilty of rape, burglary

WETUMPKA — The jury found Charles Bryant ”Chase” Hughes guilty of   breaking into a woman's home and raping her.

Hughes, 28, of Wetumpka, was found guilty of kicking in the door of the woman’s home that afternoon in September 2016, pulling her from the shower and raping her.

More details to follow.

Earlier in the morning, the victim was cross-examined by defense attorney Susan James. The victim was in the stand for about an hour and a half. 
The defense’s position throughout the trial has been that the sex act on Sept. 11, 2016 was consensual. 
James asked the victim about several text message series between Hughes and the victim before Sept. 11, 2016. Both parties used risqué language and vulgar slang in talking about sex acts.
James repeatedly asked the victim embarrassing questions about the acts Hughes and the victim performed. The victim agreed the acts and communications were consensual. 
In one text message to Hughes the victim wrote “Do you like raping me? LOL.” The message was sent to Hughes about two months before the alleged rape in September of 2016. 
“Do you remember sending that text?” James asked the victim. 
“Yes,” she replied. 
Previous testimony brought out that the victim ang Hughes had an on-again, off-again relationship that lasted for about two years before the alleged rape.
“You would often say ‘No’ and say you wanted to end the relationship, but then you would have sex again, I mean that what y’all did, right?” James asked. 
“Yes,” the victim answered. 
On redirect, Assistant District Attorney Mandy Johnson brought out time line issues. In previous testimony the victim said she had broken off the relationship for good with Hughes on Aug. 26, 2016. 
“Did you have consensual sex with Chase Hughes after Aug. 26?” Johnson asked. 
“No,” the victim said. 
“Did you consent to what Chase Hughes did to you on Sept. 11, 2016?” Johnson continued. 
“No,” the victim answer in an emphatic time. 
The jury will return from its lunch break at 12:45 p.m. Closing statements will then occur. The state will address the jury first, followed by the defense. Since the state has the burden of proof, it is allowed to have the final closing statement. 
Then Circuit Judge Ben Fuller will instruct the jury on how the law applies in this case. And the jury will retire from the courtroom to begin deliberations. 

On Tuesday, a hushed Elmore County courtroom listened to a woman give graphic details about being raped in her home.

Hughes allegedly kicked in the door of the woman’s home that afternoon in September 2016, pulled her from the shower and raped her, said Sheriff Bill Franklin. The two had a previous dating relationship, but the victim had broken up with Hughes before the alleged attack, Franklin said.

The victim spent about two hours on the stand Tuesday afternoon, often sobbing through her testimony.

“I didn’t want to do this,” she said, after telling the jury how Hughes allegedly pulled her out of the shower. Her voiced cracked and she reached for a tissue. “He threw me on the bed, and held me down by the back of my neck. That’s when he started raping me. I kept telling him I didn’t want to do this and please stop. I was crying.”

During her emotional testimony, several members of the jury panel appeared disturbed by what they were hearing. Two men glared at Hughes. One woman appeared to wipe tears from her eyes. Hughes, dressed in a dark suit, sat at the defense table just a few feet from the witness stand. The victim wouldn’t look at him.

During her testimony, Hughes often became animated, alternately shaking his head and then laughing and smiling. At two points during her testimony, he giggled out loud.

Assistant District Attorney Mandy Johnson read several text message series into evidence. The messages were sent by Hughes to the victim in the days leading up to the alleged rape, prior testimony brought out. Johnson had to read the messages, because the victim was overcome with emotion.

The victim told the jury she broke up with Hughes for good on Aug. 23, 2016, after an on-again, off-again relationship that lasted about two years. Then the alleged rape occurred on Sept. 11, 2016, testimony brought out.

The profanity-laced texts from Hughes used vulgar language in describing what he was going to do to her sexually. In one text, sent two days before the alleged rape, he threatened to “kick in her … door.” In two separate text series he threatened to rape her.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Susan James had the victim admit that during the relationship she had consented to Hughes taking compromising photos of her, and videos of the couple together of a sexual nature. Several of Hughes' texts to the victim threatened her with bodily harm, as well as threatening that he would “send out” the photos and videos.

James asked the victim why she never went to the authorities to report the threatening texts.

“I didn’t want him to get into trouble,” she said. “I just wanted him to stop.”

Earlier in the day, both the state and defense gave widely different versions of what went on, in their opening statements to the jury.

“On that Sept. 11, 2016 afternoon, Chase Hughes kicked her dead-bolted back door off the hinges, walked into her home, went into her bedroom, went into her bathroom, ripped her out of the shower, threw her naked body on her bed and forcibly raped her,” Johnson said. 

Evidence will show that before the alleged attack, Hughes allegedly sent text messages to the victim “using absolutely filthy language,” where Hughes allegedly threatened to “rape” her numerous times, she said. 

During Johnson’s opening, Hughes smirked at several of her comments.

When it came time for defense to address the jury, James told the panel that the sex that day was consensual. 

“Nothing is in dispute, the couple had sex that day,” James said. “It is our contention that (the victim) was a willing participant. There are thousands of text messages between them. This was their thing. It was a sexual fantasy, role playing. It was consensual but dirty sex.”

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