Judge says alleged victim must watch sex videos

ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt.—A judge has ordered the alleged victim in a sexual assault case to watch homemade videos to determine if they show her being molested by murder suspect Brian L. Rooney.

Rooney, 37, of Richmond, who is awaiting trial in the October 2006 slaying of University of Vermont senior Michelle Gardner-Quinn, is facing sex charges involving two other women that stem from the investigation into Gardner-Quinn's slaying.

Prosecutors say the common thread of the sex cases is that Rooney used ether or other chemicals to render women unconscious before performing sex acts on them.

Assistant Attorney General Cathy Norman and Chittenden County prosecutors want to introduce as evidence parts of videos allegedly created by Rooney.

Norman wants the victim -- identified in court papers only as "A.S." -- to specify which videos show her unconscious and being subjected to nonconsensual acts and which show her as a willing participant.

But Norman opposed a request by Rooney's lawyer, David Sleigh, to have the woman view about 30 hours of videotapes, saying it would be traumatic for her. Sleigh says it's necessary to provide context for Rooney's defense.

Norman told Judge Harold Eaton on Friday that the victim should only have to verify that she's the victim in a single 10-minute video excerpt.

Eaton said she must view each of the films with Sleigh and a prosecutor, but only long enough to determine if she's the woman depicted and whether she was unconscious at the time. There's no need for her to watch each video in its entirety, Eaton ruled.

Rooney, who is being held at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in Swanton, is scheduled to go on trial in Gardner-Quinn's killing May 13 in Rutland. He is charged with aggravated murder but has pleaded not guilty.

------

Information from: The Caledonian-Record, http://www.caledonian-record.com