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By Zach Thomas
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 3, 1996
The first trial in 11 years associated with a UA date rape case begins this morning as former UA student Peter Hart Pisciotta, 23, faces an aggravated assault charge in Pima County Superior Court.Pisciotta, of the 7300 block of North Moon Spirit Lane, was indicted in February 1995 on a charge of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old female student at a Halloween party at the former Delta Chi fraternity house, 1701 E. First St.
Yesterday, Pisciotta insisted upon his innocence and said the victim thought she was with another man when she was actually with him.
"I think that sexual assault is an extremely prevalent crime, but when people use it like this, it does a disservice to the real victims," he said.
Pisciotta said the results of a polygraph test indicated a 97 percent certainty that he was telling the truth.
He pled not guilty to the sexual assault indictment, claiming the victim, although drunk, was coherent and the initiator in the intercourse.
Statements from a University of Arizona Police Department detective and witnesses who saw the victim that evening indicated she began to get sick from consuming too much alcohol. Another fraternity member said he let her lie down in his room, and when he left her, she was unconscious.
Superior Court Judge Richard Nichols remanded the entire sexual assault case to a grand jury after statements made by the victim led him to question her motivation in pressing charges.
Between then and now, the sexual assault charge was reduced to aggravated assault.
Pisciotta's trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. in Nichols' courtroom. If convicted, Pisciotta could face six to 18 months in prison.
Stephen M. Weiss, Pisciotta's lawyer, was unavailable for comment.
Reporter D. Shayne Christie contributed to this story.
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