Mihai Carcoana, a former USD basketball player facing a second-degree rape charge appeared in court Wednesday.
During his appearance in court, Carcoana’s defense team asked for a request of discovery regarding an article of clothing that they allege the victim was wearing on the night of the alleged assault.
Carcoana’s attorney, Grant Alvine, claimed that they received a chain of custody document, referred to as Exhibit A, that stated that the victim was wearing underwear the night of the alleged assault. While there were other documents, including a sexual assault kit, which stated that the victim was not wearing underwear that night.
Alvine stated that the information in the other documents was not disclosed to them and that they had only received Exhibit A.
Alvine argued that the state may have withheld evidence in the case, and because of that, the state should not be allowed to use any DNA evidence in the trial.
The nurse that filled out Exhibit A the night of the alleged assault, testified that she had made a mistake while filling out Exhibit A, and that the victim was not wearing underwear.
Carcoana’s request of discovery was denied by Circuit Judge Tami Bern, who stated that there was insufficient evidence to support Alvine’s argument, and that she felt that nurse had made a mistake.
Carcoana is next scheduled to appear in court on February 12th.
