Collins
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WILKES-BARRE TWP. — In the second full day of testimony in the trial against former Wilkes-Barre police officer Robert Collins, accused of raping several women while on duty, prosecutors wrapped up their case, and the defense team called a series of witnesses who contradicted the testimony of some of the women who claim they were raped.
Collins, 55, of Wright Township, also scored a minor win on Wednesday, when Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas granted a motion for acquittal on some of the charges that Collins was facing, as the eighth woman whose allegations led to the charges did not testify and jurors heard no evidence in regards to it. It’s not clear why the woman did not testify.
However, Collins is still on trial for 36 counts related to the seven women whose stories the jury did hear.
Proceedings began Wednesday with testimony from three of the women who had made claims against Collins.
One of the women who testified told Senior Deputy Attorney General Bernard Anderson she was arrested after she stole lighters from the Rite Aid on Northampton Street in downtown Wilkes-Barre.
According to her, when she was arrested, she gave the arresting officer, Anthony Falcone, the name of her sister, claiming that was her name, as she knew she had a warrant under her own name.
While at the police station for processing, the woman claimed that Collins, who knew her family, vouched for her under the assumed name. Later, while walking home, she said Collins pulled over and offered her a ride.
In the car, she said Collins forcibly inserted his fingers into her vagina, injuring her in the process. She said that he also masturbated while doing it.
However, once the prosecution rested its case on Wednesday afternoon, defense attorney Paul Walker called Falcone to the stand, and he said that Collins did not vouch for the woman as she claimed.
It was discovered about two weeks after her arrest that she had given Falcone a false name, and Falcone said she was charged with counts stemming from the false identity.
Walker asked Falcone how he would have felt had he learned that Collins had falsely vouched for her.
“I would’ve been very upset with him,” Falcone said.
Under cross-examination from Anderson, Falcone admitted that, if it had happened exactly as the woman claimed it had, vouching for her would constitute an illegal act. Anderson said that if Falcone had known about it and not reported it, that would be an illegal act in itself.
“You don’t have any other choice than to come here and say that didn’t happen, correct?” Anderson asked, but Walker objected to this line of questioning, and Lupas sustained the objection.
Additionally, the defense called Eric Konnick, who directly contradicted the testimony of one of the women from Tuesday’s round of testimony.
The woman told jurors on Tuesday that she had been stopped by Collins when she was with two males, including Konnick, and that Collins groped her while searching her, before later sexually assaulting her.
But Konnick said that Collins did not search her at all, and that the three left the scene together, a further contradiction from the woman’s claims.
Testimony continues Thursday morning at the Mohegan Sun Arena.