Rape trial continues this week

By: Amy Weaver Staff Writer | Opelika Auburn News
Published: October 22, 2009

The trial for the Opelika man accused of raping an elderly woman in her home nearly a year ago is expected to conclude by Friday.
Anthony James Vines, 43, of Opelika was indicted in January by a Lee County grand jury on a charge of first-
degree rape of a then-90-year-old Opelika woman. The alleged rape occurred on Nov. 9, 2008, according to Opelika police at the time.
A jury of nine men and five women were selected Wednesday morning for the trial before Circuit Court Judge John V. Denson II. Opening statements from the defense and prosecution were heard in the afternoon, as well as the state’s first witnesses.
By the end of the day, assistant district attorney Kisha Abercrombie had called six people to the stand, including the victim, a petite 91-year-old woman, who answered questions from a wheelchair positioned in front of the jury box.
Because of her health, she did not stay in court for the remainder of the day and isn’t expected to return until the case concludes.
Defense attorney Harold Morris tried to suppress the statement written by Opelika police investigator Sgt. Ben Bugg after interviewing Vines on the day of the alleged crime. Morris said because it was not signed by his client, it was inadmissable. Denson
disagreed.
Bugg read the statement, which indicated that Vines lived in the area where the alleged crime occurred and that he knew the victim because he used to mow her lawn. He walked by her home the morning of the attack, but did not stop. He read in the newspaper that a man, dressed in camouflage clothing, had attacked a woman. Vines, who wears camo everyday, said he didn’t do it because he had never been in the victim’s house.
Bugg and Opelika detective Richard Converse said Vines was read his rights before the interview and he verbally indicated that he understood them. He was asked to sign the statement from the interview, but adamantly refused, they both said.
“This statement is true, but I don’t want to sign anything,” is what Bugg read from the statement.
Converse testified that he was called to the scene of a reported burglary and rape, where a man allegedly forced his way into the small home of an elderly woman, raped her in the front bedroom and stole a handgun. Bugg said the victim identified Vines from a series of photos as the man who broke in and sexually assaulted her when she was home alone.
Testimony is expected to resume at 9 a.m. this morning. The prosecution is expected to call more witnesses, before the defense makes its case.