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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Almost two years after a violent attack, a Charlotte woman faced the man accused of breaking into her south Charlotte apartment, hiding inside then raping her when she arrived home.
A Channel 9 camera was in the courtroom when the man charged with the violent crime, Derek Antonio Smith, spoke. He did not deny that he was in the victim’s apartment.
“I didn’t jump out of closet. I came up from behind her and hugged her,” Smith told the jury in his opening statement.
It was a very different account than the one prosecutors presented of what happened inside the apartment in 2014. That’s when police said Smith broke in, waited hours until the woman came home, then raped her several times before taking her car and valuables and leaving.
Smith is charged with rape, burglary, kidnapping, robbery and more.
Prosecutors painted a horrifying picture.
"What he did to her was use that knife, a knife from her own kitchen to hold her in her apartment for hours and sexually assault her,” Assistant District Attorney Jane Honeycutt said in the prosecution’s opening statement.
Smith is representing himself, which means he will cross-examine the alleged victim.
“I think anytime a survivor goes to court and has to recount what happens to them, it can be traumatizing,” said Cori Goldstein, director of sexual trauma resources with Safe Alliance.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the prosecution called the victim to testify. She became emotional at times and said to the jury, “I thought I was going to die.”
Channel 9 spoke with criminal defense attorney Mark Jetton, who’s not involved in this particular case but gave his legal opinion on Smith representing himself.
“Anytime you have these serious charges and the more (there are) of them, the more complicated the case is going to be because there’s more dealing with different types of evidence, rules that go in it,” Jetton said.
Legal experts said it’s possible jurors could be sympathetic to Smith representing himself, even though they’re asked in advance about any bias.
The trial will resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
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