Thursday, May 3, 2018 | 1:18 p.m.
SALT LAKE CITY — The trial has started for three men accused of raping a 9-year-old Utah girl while her mother was in the garage smoking methamphetamine.
Prosecutors said Thursday the men took her into a back bedroom, held her down and assaulted her in 2016.
The girl testified the men threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the attack in rural Uintah County, which borders Colorado. She confided in her mother two days later.
Defense attorneys argue there's no DNA or other physical evidence against the men charged with child rape and sodomy: 38-year-old Larson RonDeau, 28-year-old Randall Flatlip and 31-year-old Jerry Flatlip.
The defense says child-welfare workers mishandled the interview with the girl and said her mother may have influenced her account.
