The Barometer Online

Issue date: 5/12/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Cory Reed Cory Reed | THE DAILY BAROMETER Gregory Sako, center, leaves the Benton County Courthouse with his lawyer, left, and mother, right after the first hearing on Monday. Sako is faces charges of rape in the first degree, kidnapping in the first and second degree and sexual abuse in the first degree.

By Kate Welter

The Daily Barometer

Monday marked the beginning of the trial of Gregory Thomas Sako, the former OSU student who was arrested and charged last November with rape in the first degree, kidnapping in the first and second degree and sexual abuse in the first degree.

The trial began yesterday at approximately 9 a.m. at the downtown Benton County Courthouse.

Corvallis District Attorney Chris Stringer and Sako's criminal defense attorney, Stephen Ensor, spent the first half of the day selecting a jury for the estimated week-long trial.

The courtroom was full with over 50 people present, comprised mainly of potential jurors as well as members of Sako's family, the victim's family and friends.

Questions used to select the seven males and five females on the 12-member jury included whether or not any of them had ever had any first-hand connection to the Greek system and their experience with alcohol or sexual abuse.

Stringer also detailed in his opening statement that the victim had not met Sako until the night of Oct. 31 at the Phi Kappa Psi Halloween party, where they met on the dance floor in the basement of the fraternity.

It was after dancing that Sako and the victim ended up upstairs in Sako's room.

"[Sako] asked [the victim] to have sex. She said no, repeatedly," Stringer said.

Ensor explained in his opening statement that Sako was a member of the honor society, golf and tennis teams and band at his high school in Menlo Park, Calif. Sako received an ROTC scholarship to attend OSU, which Ensor claimed was the "proudest day of his parents' lives."

Ensor also revealed that Sako had been "drinking heavily" that night and reportedly does not even remember dancing with the victim, let alone having any sexual contact with her.

The line of questioning began with the state calling both the emergency physician and registered nurse, who each examined the victim at Good Samaritan Hospital the night of the reported rape. They each stated that the victim appeared to be "quiet, reclusive and withdrawn" during the rape kit examination.

The Tinker Bell costume, which the victim had worn during the alleged assault, was spotted with a significant amount of blood and was taken as evidence for the performed rape kit.

Next called to the witness stand was a forensic scientist, who examined the victim's underwear and deemed it to be positive for blood, but negative for any traces of seminal fluid.

A DNA analyst from Portland was also called to the stand. She testified that the blood discovered on Sako's futon matched that of the victim.

Additional witnesses called to testify included friends of the victim who were with her throughout the night and could account for her whereabouts and the timeline of the night's events.

According to several of the witnesses' testimonies, the victim traveled over 20 blocks with a group of friends to the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity after playing some drinking games at a friend's house.

They arrived at the party, where the victim and two other friends headed to the basement to dance. This is where the victim met Sako, who, at the time, was dressed in a green beer bottle costume.

The witnesses claimed that they briefly left the victim alone with Sako in the basement to meet up with a different friend. When they returned a short period of time later, neither the victim nor Sako could be found.

After searching the fraternity, both witnesses stated that they finally found the victim, whose costume was "ruffled" and "blood-stained" and she appeared to be "dazed and confused." When one of her friends asked her what had happened to her, the victim reportedly said, "I think I was raped."

The witnesses both explained that soon afterward, they drove the victim to the hospital to seek medical attention.

Another female witness testified that after the supposed timeline in which the alleged rape took place, she and Sako were romantically involved into the early hours of the next morning in his room.

More witness testimony and cross examinations will continue to take place over the course of this week. The trial is expected to be finished by Friday and is open to the public to attend.



Kate Welter, staff writer

news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231

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