Surveillance video shows former HPD Officer Abraham Joseph driving up to a gas station and releasing a man into the parking lot. Prosecutors allege Joseph picked up a woman and a man, then dropped off the man and raped the woman at a nearby park.
A crime investigator on Thursday confirmed records showing that Joseph never told dispatch he picked up anybody. The witness says male police officers are always asked to call in when they're alone with women.
He said, "Officers typically call a female officer to do a search... You want it to be known that there is a female in your backseat."
The witness also confirmed the police uniform, handcuffs and gun that Joseph had on the day he's accused of raping the woman.
"They want to remind the jury that he was in uniform at the time, not like he is today. Today he's in street clothes, he's in a suit, he looks like any guy that would take your daughter on a date," said KTRK legal analyst Joel Androphy.
He says prosecutors want to remind jurors that Joseph was in a position of authority during the alleged assault.
"This was a guy in uniform, wearing a badge, driving a police car and they really want to drive home that he used his authority to abuse her," Androphy said.
When we asked defense attorney Nicole DeBorde if she thought her client is being held to a different standard because he's a police officer, she replied, "I have a lot of confidence in this jury. They're smart, they're taking notes, and they know that the law is that he should be held to the same standard under the law as is anybody else."
The defense claims the sex was consensual.
Prosecutors are still expected to call forward several witnesses. Attorneys say it could be a week or longer before this case is sent to a jury.
