Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Judges in Utah and Salt Lake counties have ordered closed hearings for Nicholas Rossi, where attorneys will discuss what evidence can be brought to trial.
- Rossi faces rape charges in both counties, with trials set for August and September.
- The Utah County judge denied Rossi's request to change his case name to Alahverdian, citing potential confusion.
PROVO — A second judge has decided to close hearings for Nicholas Rossi from the public, ruling that while the court determines what should be shown to a jury, the information prosecutors want to bring to the trial should be kept private.
Fourth District Judge Derek Pullan ruled in a hearing Tuesday to close the evidentiary hearing scheduled on June 23. He ruled that based on the media attention the case has attracted, making information public that the court could determine should not be included in the trial could "seriously impact the efficiency of the jury selection process and the ability to seat a jury."
Rossi, 37, is charged with two counts of rape, a first-degree felony, in separate cases in Utah and Salt Lake counties based on allegations stemming from two different women in 2008. The judge overseeing his Salt Lake County hearing already motioned to close a similar hearing in that case — which is scheduled for Thursday.
The Utah County case was filed in 2018 after a DNA match connected allegations to Rossi. The Salt Lake County case was filed in 2022 after a woman saw news coverage of his extradition process in the other case and spoke with police.
Prosecutors in both cases have asked to bring information about the other case, other alleged crimes or actions around the same time and Rossi's extradition from the United Kingdom to Utah to face these charges.
Pullan said prosecutors' 404B motion to allow evidence at trial, which will be considered in the closed hearing, asks the judge to allow personal, private and potentially embarrassing information related to alleged victims that they may or may not have chosen to report. He said putting this information in a public forum creates problems that the state's rape shield law is designed to prevent.
In addition to closing the hearing, the judge determined that multiple motions related to the hearing will also be made private and will no longer be available to the public.
The Utah County case is scheduled for a 12-day jury trial in September, and prosecutors have said they do not intend to offer a plea deal after Rossi rejected a previous offer. Rossi's Salt Lake County case is scheduled for a jury trial lasting seven days in early August.
Rossi or Alahverdian?
Pullan also rejected a request from Rossi on Tuesday to change the case name to match the name he currently uses, Nicholas Alahverdian, agreeing with prosecutors that it would bring "all kinds of uncertainty and confusion." He said he would continue to call the case "Utah vs. Nicholas Rossi" and instructed attorneys to do the same but said they can refer to him by either name during hearings.
The judge said the charges stem from when his name was Rossi, and that is what witnesses will be referring to him as.
Rossi's attorney, Daniel Diaz, said his last name at birth was Alahverdian, but it was changed to Rossi after his stepfather adopted him. However, he said that stepfather spent some time in jail related to a history of child abuse and violence, and Rossi officially changed his last name back to Alahverdian in 2012 to connect to his heritage — something prosecutors did not know when they filed the case.
"He wants to be referred to as his legal and his birth name," Diaz said, saying the use of Rossi causes him distress.
Specifically, the attorney said jail officers use the name Rossi "in a derogatory manner" and will not change the name they use unless the name on the case is changed.
Deputy Utah County attorney Owen Stewart argued that changing the name of the case would have a limited purpose and provide confusion in a case where identity has been an issue. When Rossi was found in a hospital in Scotland he was using the name Arthur Knight. He contested that he was Nicholas Rossi, as DNA suggested, until months after he was extradited but eventually admitted to the identity.
The prosecutor said the name Alahverdian is included in the case as an alternative name.
Pullan said he was not convinced that changing the case name would bring enough comfort to Rossi to merit the change, especially as his name is already listed in the case.
In the Salt Lake County case, the judge denied a verbal request to change the case name but agreed to refer to Rossi as Alahverdian in court proceedings. No official motion was filed in that case, but it will not affect the name used for Rossi in the Utah County Jail.
