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By Zach Thomas
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 3, 1996
A former UA student accused of a 1994 date rape pleaded guilty in Pima County Superior Court yesterday morning to one count of felony aggravated assault.Peter Hart Pisciotta, 23, decided to accept a plea agreement in which initial sexual assault charges were reduced to aggravated assault.
Pisciotta's attorney, Stephen M. Weiss, said he would seek probation at the Nov. 22 sentencing hearing before Superior Court Judge Richard Nichols.
"Ideally, what I would ask for is he be placed on probation and the matter be designated a misdemeanor," he said. "More likely, the judge will leave the matter undesignated," pending good behavior while on probation.
Aggravated assault, a class 6 felony, carries a sentence of between 6 and 18 months in prison.
The victim and defendant also reached a confidential settlement to resolve any civil claims, Weiss said.
Pisciotta, of the 7300 block of North Moon Spirit Lane, pleaded not guilty in February 1995 to charges he sexually assaulted a 20-year-old female student at a 1994 Halloween party in the former Delta Chi fraternity house, 1701 E. First St.
Detective Sgt. Sal Celi of the University of Arizona Police Department said that during questioning after the assault, Pisciotta admitted having sexual intercourse with the victim, but said it was consensual.
The victim, however, told the police it was not.
"The evidence we gathered from the scene indicated that (the victim) was incapacitated by alcohol consumption," Celi said.
Nichols later remanded the initial case to a grand jury due to questions surrounding statements made by the victim to another fraternity member the night of the incident. Because of the impending plea agreement, a jury never reheard the case.
Kathleen Mayer, the county prosecutor handling the case, did not return calls yesterday afternoon.
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