Police arrested D after his on-again, off-again girlfriend, S.C., alleged that he had detained and abused her over the previous day and night. D and S.C. dated intermittently for about five months until D's arrest. They used drugs together, including methamphetamine, and S.C. stated that D was physically abusive to her throughout their relationship. Twice over the summer, S.C. 'ran away' to stay with friends in an attempt to get sober and put distance between D and herself. S.C. stated she was afraid of D and that he was stalking her. On Wednesday, August 22, 2018, S.C. and D reconnected after being spotted in a park and the two and S.C.'s best friend Sammi stayed up all night drinking in S.C.'s room while S.C.'s two young daughters and her friend, Vickie, who often stayed over to babysit, slept in bedrooms upstairs. D initially told Sammi that he did not want to see S.C., but after reconnecting in the park, the two spent most of the next three days together. On Thursday morning, S.C. sent a text message to D asking him to come over to have sex with her. D spent both Wednesday and Thursday nights at S.C.'s house. On Friday morning, S.C. drove D to his mother's house in East Helena so that he could pick up some clothes. The doors were locked and no one was home, so they waited on the porch for an hour or two. D asked for her phone, took it, and kept it for the rest of the day and night. D saw text messages between S.C. and Dan O'Malley, a former Helena police detective and her daughter's grandfather, about D's drug addiction. D became angry, pulled out a pocketknife, and threatened her, saying she 'knew too much' and that she 'was talking to the wrong people' about his drug addiction. S.C. testified that Quiroz 'stabbed [the knife] on my leg and he kept poking my leg with it.' She testified, 'He told me that if I made a noise, that he would stab me.' D's mother arrived with his sister and her children. S.C. testified that D led her to the back bedroom and threatened her not to say or do anything to arouse suspicion while he packed. After D's family left D began interrogating her about 'what he thought I knew.' S.C. testified that because she 'had no idea what he was talking about,' D became angry and hit her across the face so hard that she saw stars. Upon returning to S.C.'s house, D made her walk straight upstairs to her room, past her children and Vickie, who was downstairs, and made her sit on her hands at the foot of her bed while D held the knife with the blade underneath her throat and said he would kill her if she did not tell him what she knew; hit her on her shin with the wooden handle of a hammer she had stored in her dresser; hit her with a braided belt that left a distinct woven pattern on her leg; tied her hands behind her back with a bandana and kicked her onto the floor; and strangled her with a cell phone cord, completely cutting off her airway. D then forced her to take a bath while he watched, threatening that if she 'moved or did anything out of the ordinary,' he would kill her or her children. On cross-examination, S.C. acknowledged that she had smoked meth as recently as Tuesday, August 21, two nights before the incidents with D. D tried to force her to smoke meth in the bathroom, and P claims D allegedly choked her and hit her with a wet belt when she refused. D then made her shower with him, told her that she hadn't 'done anything to appease him,' and forced her to perform oral sex and have vaginal intercourse in the shower. S.C. then went downstairs to make breakfast while D remained in the shower. Before going downstairs, S.C. saw her phone on her bed and put it in her pocket. S.C. sent a Facebook message to Detective O'Malley, pleading for help, and a message to 911. Police responded and arrested D. Vickie emerged from an upstairs bedroom with her young son. Officer Benz testified that she 'appeared to have just woken up.' Vickie told Officer Benz that she had been in the house the entire night but had not heard anything. Officer Benz took photographs of S.C.'s injuries: swelling, redness, and bruising on her left cheek, a red mark consistent with a hand on S.C.'s left thigh, a red welt in a distinct pattern that was consistent with a woven belt, and small red dots 'almost kind of petechiae' on S.C.'s left shin. S.C. showed Officer Benz a mark on her leg where Quiroz allegedly pressed the knife to her skin. Other physical evidence included: a pocketknife that officers seized from D's pants pocket when he was arrested; a wet, woven belt that officers found on the bathroom floor; a wooden claw hammer that officers found in S.C.'s bedroom dresser drawer; and two bags of suspected methamphetamine. Officer Benz testified that there was a phone cord plugged into a phone in the bedroom, but she did not take it into evidence and did not take any photographs of S.C.'s neck. D denied holding her against her will and claimed to have had consensual sexual intercourse with her in her bedroom and bathroom every day since the two reconnected. In November, after D was arrested, he apologized in a letter to S.C., writing: 'I am so sorry. I got out of hand. . . . I was trying to hurt you because I was hurt, I was wrong.' The State called Dr. Sheri Vanino, a licensed clinical psychologist and trauma as a blind expert about the dynamics of sexual abuse and the cycle of domestic violence. Dr. Vanino explained why some common myths about rape are incorrect, including the myth that rapes are commonly committed by strangers, that victims usually fight back, and that a rape victim will necessarily have evidence of obvious injuries. Dr. Vanino further testified that most rapes are never reported and that many domestic violence relationships include sexual violence. Dr Vanino was queried about the incidence of false rape reports. She testified it was maybe between 2 to 7 percent. D did not object to Dr. Vanino's testimony. D got its chance to cross-examine about the reliability of the research cited. In closing, D's counsel conceded that the evidence proved D was guilty of possessing dangerous drugs but emphasized S.C.'s drug use and evidentiary gaps in her testimony. Referencing Dr. Vanino's testimony, D's counsel argued that the jury should not rely on 'some hired gun' to decide if 'somebody's telling you the truth.' D was convicted and appealed.

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