Editors Note: This article was originally published in the Sept. 20, 2023 issue of the Chronicle Progress. Some information may be outdated.
The victim of a vicious alleged sexual assault last month in Fillmore gave testimony during a preliminary hearing in Fourth District Court on Sept. 6.
The woman was questioned by a defense attorney hired by the still-jailed suspect, a Georgia man named Edward Eugene Hicks.
The woman essentially was questioned about statements she made to police as well as those she put down in a four-page witness statement provided to the court—the Chronicle Progress does not identify victims of sex-related offenses.
The woman described how she wrote out her written statement a few weeks after the assault and after she gave a verbal statement to deputies investigating the case.
The victim testified via internet from New Horizons, a victim advocate and a few close family members alongside her.
The woman recounted how she allegedly met Hicks and the two decided to go on an ATV ride up Fillmore canyon to a lookout. She testified that at one point during the ride Hicks allegedly attacked her, sexually assaulted her more than once and that she suffered a painful head injury.
Defense attorney Craig Johnson sought to test the victim’s credibility, asking her about discrepancies in her statement compared to reports filed by investigators in the case.
He also raised questions about whether alcohol was involved in the incident and whether it was possible the woman hurt her head during a crash after she left the suspect at his vehicle.
The prosecutor in the case, County Attorney Patrick Finlinson, listened to the questioning but offered no questions of his own.
The victim was the only witness called to the stand.
At one point the woman was asked about why there were things in her written statement that she had not told deputies when they began investigating the incident.
“I didn’t want to talk about it,” she answered. “I wasn’t ready to talk about it.”
Johnson also asked the victim about supposedly telling an investigator that her head was not hurt during the incident, though her written statement describes the victim’s head being slammed into a metal bar at the back of the ATV where the attack occurred.
“No, my head was hurt,” she told the defense attorney, adding later, “My skull was fractured. My head hurt, extremely, extremely, extremely terrible.”
She later described feeling a large knot at the back of her head when she left the suspect at his vehicle and drove home.
Johnson asked if it was possible she crashed on her way home and didn’t remember it. She said she couldn’t remember.
“When I got home there was a huge knot on the back of my head and I couldn’t, I was in extreme pain,” she said.
The victim confirmed the two took whiskey with them on their ATV jaunt and that she drank some alcohol before meeting the man.
Johnson also asked about whether she disrobed in any way or showed the suspect any of her tattoos during their excursion. She said she did not, though Johnson described one tattoo for the victim.
Once cross-examination was done, the defense waived their right to call witnesses or provide evidence in the suspect’s defense, with Johnson saying he would wait until trial.
Johnson requested a speedy trial and one was set for December. He also requested Hicks be released pending trial, with a GPS monitor ensuring his whereabouts.
Judge Anthony Howell declined to release the suspect on bail and ordered him to continue to be held without bail.
“Having heard the testimony (from the victim), reviewing the statement presented today, I am not persuaded to amend the bail order. I’ll continue to hold Mr. Hicks without bail,” the judge said.
Finlinson said in light of the victim’s written statement and testimony he wanted to amend the criminal complaint against Hicks to include a first-degree felony forcible sodomy charge to go along with the first-degree rape charge he was arrested on last month.
Hicks faces a mandatory sentence of at least 15 years in prison if convicted on the rape charge. The forcible sodomy count carries a mandatory 5-year prison term.
A pretrial conference was scheduled for Nov. 15. The trial was set to begin Dec. 6 and continue through Dec. 8.
