A Nashville man accused of rape will not go to trial until next year.
In the meantime, the prosecution is attempting to use prior criminal acts against the same victim as evidence against him.
Rickey D. Haines, 39, 5691 Three Notch Road, was charged in December 2015 with rape, criminal confinement, domestic battery and strangulation.
He also was facing charges for an assault on the same woman in June 2015 — three counts of domestic battery, criminal recklessness, criminal mischief, invasion of privacy and unlawful possession of a firearm by a domestic batterer.
Haines was out of jail on bond for that case when the alleged rape occurred.
Public defender Jacob Moore represents Haines in the June case, while public defender Courtney Jones represents him in the December case.
Both cases are now tracking together and are scheduled to go before a jury Monday, March 27.
The woman reported that Haines attacked her repeatedly at his Brown County home in December 2015. Two children reported hearing the victim scream for help from a room and bang on the house after Haines followed her outside.
Deputy Prosecutor James T. Roberts wrote in the prosecution’s argument that Haines has a prior domestic battery conviction against the same victim that occurred five years before the alleged rape.
“He has knowingly and intentionally used force against her to accomplish his ends in the past; therefore, his use of force to rape her was knowing and/or intentional,” Roberts writes.
He cited 11 court cases where previous violence, intimidation and threats be-tween the accused and victim were used in court as evidence against an attacker.
Judge Judith Stewart will hear arguments on whether or not to use the prior act evidence at a Feb. 3 hearing.
Jones had asked for the case to be dismissed in May.
She argued that police mishandled evidence by returning the victim’s cellphone to her after taking data off it. The victim told police that Haines had recorded her rape on it, then deleted the video the next morning. Jones said her client has the right to examine the phone.
The victim no longer has the phone, and neither do police. She testified that after police returned it to her, she replaced the screen, erased all content from it and gave it to her father.
Stewart said the prosecution should have preserved the phone as evidence; however, Jones and Haines have the same ability to view the data as the prosecution does, since it was downloaded to a police server. She ruled that since there was no “bad faith” on the part of the police and since the material on the phone is not evidence that exonerates Haines anyway, there are no grounds for dismissal.
Jones filed an appeal, but on Aug. 15, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that it would not accept jurisdiction.
On Nov. 9, Jones asked the court to appoint co-counsel, citing the “nature and seriousness of the charges” against Haines.
Stewart ruled against the request, but allowed the defense to spend up to $750 on an investigator.
Haines remains in the Brown County jail on $100,000 bond.
