FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. -- Jesse Matthew, the man charged with killing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, faces his first trial in Fairfax Monday.
Matthew will go on trial in a separate case for the brutal assault of a woman ten years ago that could result in him going to prison for the rest of his life.
Matthew faces attempted capital murder and sexual assault charges for the alleged 2005 crime in Fairfax.
Prosecutors said they have DNA evidence that suggests Matthew committed the crime. And Thursday the alleged victim told a judge she was prepared to identify Matthew as her attacker.
Attorney Claire Cardwell said the deck is “certainly stacked” against Matthew.
As a result, Cardwell, who specialized in criminal law, said the defense will try to plant reasonable doubt in the mind of jurors.
For example, doubt the DNA could have come from anything and doubt that the victim’s memory may be fuzzy since ten years have passed.
“The prosecution has the fortune of having a victim from a number of years ago that is willing to identify him,” Cardwell said.
However, the most difficult challenge Monday will be selecting a jury. While there are around 150 people to choose from, Cardwell said it may be challenge to find jurors who haven’t made their mind up about Matthew.
“It’s not a reason to strike a juror because they have some knowledge about the case the key question will be have they made up their mind,” Cardwell said.
The victim, who is expected to be the first witness the prosecution calls, has flow to the US from India to testify and is anxious to return home.
One name that will not be brought up is Hannah Graham. Or Morgan Harrington, the Virginia Tech student murdered in 2009 whose death authorities said is forensically linked to Matthew although he has not been charged. The judge has ruled Matthew’s past must be omitted.
“Generally other bad acts or other crimes of a defendant are not admissible,” Cardwell said.
Matthew’s trial begins Monday, June 8 with jury selection. A hundred potential jurors will be brought in Monday and another 50 on Tuesday. The trial is scheduled to last two weeks.
Face-to-Face with Matthew
Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David Schell denied a defense motion Tursday to continue the 8 trial.
For the first time in 10 years, the alleged victim in the September 24, 2005 sexual assault, known as “RG,” was in the presence of her alleged attacker when she took the stand to testify.
The defense called her in a motion to suppress any court identification of Matthew. Judge Schell denied that motion.
RG was asked several questions by the defense about her conversations with the state over the past 10 years, and most recently after Matthew was arrested and charged with the murder of University of Virginia second year, Hannah Graham.
DNA connects Matthew to the 2005 attack in Fairfax, Hannah Graham’s 2014 case, and Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington when she disappeared in 2009 night from UVa’s John Paul Jones Arena and was later found murdered.
RG testified that the state informed her of Matthew’s arrest and the media interest in the case, but never showed her pictures of Matthew. RG stated out of her own “curiosity,” she searched Matthew’s photo online in October. She noted that his hair had changed, but his face was the same.
The Fairfax Case
Court documents unsealed in March indicated Matthew abducted a woman on a path near her Fairfax apartment on September 24, 2005. It was alleged Matthew choked her and sexually assaulted her with his hand. DNA was taken from the victim and that sample linked Matthew to the offense, according to the documents.
That evidence prompted Matthew’s defense to request funds in the amount of $2,000 for a DNA expert.
DNA from the Fairfax case linked Matthew to murdered Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington the night she disappeared from UVa’s John Paul Jones Arena in 2009. That DNA was also collected in the Hannah Graham murder case.
Matthew is expected in Albemarle Court on June 25 where he is charged with capital murder in the Graham case.
