Jurors in child sex case to hear opening statements Monday

By Cara McCoy

Friday, Feb. 20, 2009 | 10:08 p.m.

Opening arguments in the trial of accused child rapist Chester A. Stiles are expected to begin Monday.

Stiles faces 22 charges in connection with the sexual assaults of two young girls – one of whom was 2 years old and videotaped during the assault. Twenty-one of those charges can carry a life sentence.

A jury was seated Friday after four days of jury selection. The jury has 15 members, including three alternates, and is comprised of 10 men and five women.

Stiles’ lawyers said what’s missing from the jury are African-Americans. Although Stiles, 38, is white, public defender Amy Coffee said she objected to the dismissal of two of the four African-Americans who had made it into the selection pool of 35.

She told Judge Jennifer Togliatti that her client’s Sixth Amendment right to a trial by an impartial jury was impaired.

“We feel they were struck as a discriminatory policy,” Coffee said.

Prosecutors had one African-American woman released because of her background in child psychology and foster care. An African-American man with an interest in forensics also was released.

Despite the defense’s challenges, Togliatti said she agreed with the prosecution and upheld the dismissals.

In the case of the older girl, who was 6 years old when the alleged assault occurred in December 2003, no videotape or physical evidence exists. Prosecution and defense attorneys asked potential jurors whether a child could be believed even when there is little or no supporting evidence.

The older girl, now 11, likely will appear in court next week. Her mother is expected to take the stand after opening arguments Monday.

The alleged assault happened in December 2003 when Stiles stayed overnight at the family’s home in Las Vegas. According to court documents, Tina Allen, a friend of the girl’s mother – who also was the on-again, off-again girlfriend of Stiles – had asked to stay at the family’s home after losing her job. Stiles came to the home to visit and ending up spending the night.

The girl told her parents that she woke up with Stiles in her room and her pants down. The girl said Stiles “kissed me with his tongue” and touched her genitals, according to police reports taken after the girl was examined for abuse at Sunrise Hospital.

According to police reports, Stiles told the girl, “this is what boyfriends do, that’s why your daddy doesn’t do this.” The child told her parents that Stiles woke her up several times throughout the night and touched her inappropriately.

After the alleged assaults ended, the girl spent the rest of the night in her parents’ bed, which was unusual behavior.

The family has since moved to Washington state. Stiles’ attorneys have said they likely will challenge the girl’s memory of the alleged assault when she takes the stand next week.

Stiles’ case gained a high profile in 2007 after images from another alleged assault were released from a graphic videotape found in a desert area near Pahrump. The man who found it, 26-year-old Darren Tuck, told police it was wrapped in a plastic bag beneath a piece of wood in a desert lot and that he had it for about five months before turning it in.

The identification of the man and the young girl became known after images from the tape were released. Prosecutors, who are planning to ask the jury to view the tape, have said they will let it speak for itself and likely won’t call the girl to testify.