MISSOULA – It only took three hours for a Missoula jury to hand down their verdict for a man charged with raping an unconscious woman in 2017.
Shane Pelletier was charged with one count of sexual intercourse without consent of a girl he found blacked out from alcohol consumption in a downtown parking lot in the summer of 2017.
He took her back to his downtown apartment which was near the parking garage and while there, the female victim said that she woke up and found Pelletier raping her.
She left the apartment in the morning not knowing the name of her assailant but after some investigating, Missoula Police narrowed the search down to Pelletier.
Pelletier will await sentencing while he is remanded to the custody of the Missoula
County Detention Center. He’s now a convicted sex offender.
(first report)
MISSOULA – The fate of a Missoula man who was charged with rape is now in the hands of the jury.
But earlier on Friday, the defendant in the case took the stand in his defense.
Shane Pelletier is charged with sexual intercourse without consent in an incident in 2017 where he allegedly found a girl blacked out in a parking garage and took her back to his apartment.
The victim says she regained consciousness in Pelletier’s apartment while he was raping her.
Pelletier says the sex was consensual.
Pelletier’s testimony alone took up most of the day as he recalled what he remembers about the night.
While answering questions about how events from the night unfolded, Pelletier testified that he was a high-character individual who would never do something like this.
The state countered by producing a police report of a complaint for a sex without consent charge that wasn’t pursued in 2003 when Pelletier was only 15.
The state argued that Pelletier was producing different versions of the story and not being truthful about what happened between Pelletier and his victim.
“You think both those versions are true?” asked Missoula Deputy County Attorney Brian Lowney.
“Which answer are you looking for Mr Lowney?” Pelletier responded.
“I’m looking for the truth, that’s what I’m looking for.”
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to tell you is the truth in this case.”
The jury started deliberating the case just after 3 p.m. Friday. We will update this story once a verdict has been reached.
