T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK The trial of Logan Cochran, left, begins Tuesday. He is accused of rape and gross sexual imposition. Also pictured is his defense attorney, Michael Probst.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — A jury will hear the evidence and decide if a reported sexual encounter was consensual or if a rape was committed.

On Tuesday, the jurors heard opening arguments in the trial of Logan Cochran, accused of two counts of first-degree felony rape and one count of fourth-degree felony gross sexual imposition that allegedly occurred May 24, 2022.

In his opening argument, Belmont County Assistant Prosecutor Chris Gagin described the alleged events, which Gagin said began May 23 at a post-graduation gathering of three young men and three young women including Cochran.

Cochran, who is 21 now and a resident of 69740 Ohio St., Martins Ferry, was 19 at the time. The other men were also older than 18. Two of the females, including the alleged victim, were over 18, and one was 17. The gathering occurred at a house in Martins Ferry belonging to one of the other men.

Gagin described the events that reportedly occurred that night, saying there was drinking of alcohol and some use of marijuana. According to Gagin, one of the men left, one man and woman went upstairs for the night, and the juvenile female remained asleep downstairs.

Gagin told the court it is alleged that Cochran began making unwanted advances on the other woman, who also was sleeping downstairs inside the home.

“I want you to think of one question as you go through the evidence: At what point did ‘no’ become ‘yes?'” Gagin said to the jury.

He said the alleged victim made an audio recording with her cellphone in which she could be heard telling Cochran to stop trying to wake her up.

Gagin described the layout of the house using slides. He said the alleged victim went upstairs to the only restroom and Cochran followed her upstairs. Gagin said she went into a spare room and locked the latch, but Cochran opened the latch by sliding a card or other thin object and entered. Gagin said the woman continued to refuse Cochran’s alleged advances.

“He says: ‘Stay, just until I fall asleep. He lays down on the bed, she sits on the corner of the bed. After about five minutes or so, she thinks Logan is asleep, she starts to get up, and it’s at that moment that Mr. Cochran grabs her by the waist and pulls her down on the bed,” Gagin said.

Gagin said the woman “froze” while the alleged crime took place. He showed a photograph she reportedly took with her phone of Cochran leaving the room afterward.

He said she went to a local hospital and reported what allegedly had occurred after speaking to a friend and to her mother. He also said when police questioned Cochran, he stated he had not been drinking alcohol.

Cochran’s defense attorney, Michael Probst, said while many of the facts to be presented by the prosecution and defense will align, the defense disputes what allegedly occurred.

He said the women had purchased the alcohol at a gas station where the attendant did not check their identifications.

“Everyone had been drinking in the house, drinking the alcohol that the girls brought over. They’d been sharing it, and they brought over marijuana and people were smoking marijuana, and generally everyone was getting along,” Probst said, noting that the alleged victim reportedly became angry with Cochran several times throughout the night for “stealing” her alcohol. “She would scream at him and yell at him every time that they took alcohol from the fridge.”

Probst referred to the audio recording made on the cellphone, saying it did not indicate an assault.

“There’s nothing that’s alleged in these audio recordings that he’s touching inappropriately or that he’s assaulting her. You’re not going to hear evidence that she says: ‘Stop assaulting me, I need help.'”

Probst told the jury the woman agreed to go with Cochran to the spare bedroom and went upstairs with him.

Probst said that the house is an older home where noises such as footsteps and creaks reverberate. He said the bedroom door was open. He referred to the couple in the other upstairs room, saying the man was awake and heard no sounds of conflict.

“This is what he heard: laughing and talking,” Probst said. “Not that there was a struggle, not that there was a fight, not that somebody was getting sexually assaulted.”

Probst also said there were inconsistencies in the alleged victim’s statements during her medical examination. He said no signs of injury were found. He also said the police did not tell Cochran why they were questioning him following her report, and Cochran did not want to admit to underage drinking.

“The DNA evidence collected will not show any signs of force. The (sexual assault nurse examiner) examination will not show any signs of force,” he said. “Listen very carefully to all the evidence. Apply your common sense.”

Prior to opening arguments, Gagin said he expected the trial to take three days, possibly concluding on Thursday. He plans to call witnesses including a DNA expert from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations, the nurse from WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital who conducted the examination, Martins Ferry police officers, two people who were at the house and the alleged victim.