- Nicholas Rossi's first Utah rape trial begins next week after his extradition from Scotland.
- Rossi, accused of 2008 rapes, was identified via DNA in 2018 and charged in 2020.
- Judges ruled on evidence admissibility, including DNA and name changes, amid closed hearings.
SALT LAKE CITY — A year and a half after he was extradited from Scotland to face rape charges in two Utah counties, the first jury trial for Nicholas Rossi is set to begin.
Tuesday was the first of two days where potential jurors will come to the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City as attorneys prepare for opening arguments on Monday and witnesses testimony over the course of next week.
Rossi, 38, is scheduled for another trial in September in Utah County where he is accused of raping a 21-year-old woman in Orem. In both cases he is charged with rape, a first-degree felony, based on alleged actions in 2008.
He was identified through a DNA rape kit in 2018 and charged in 2020. While receiving care for COVID-19 in a UK hospital, he was identified by investigators.
In Salt Lake County, a woman reported interactions with Rossi in 2022 to police after seeing news of his extradition process, and charges were later filed. She and Rossi dated for about two weeks and discussed marriage, but following an argument about breaking up in December of 2008 he held her down and raped her, according to charging documents.
His extradition is one of many pieces of evidence that attorneys have contested whether prosecutors should be allowed to discuss during the trial — with much of the legal debate happening in private hearings and motions in both cases. Both judges ruled the media attention to his case merited closed hearings as they discussed what could be brought into trial, and have granted multiple motions to make documents private.
Third District Judge Barry Lawrence, who oversees the Salt Lake County case, ruled that the DNA collected for the Utah County case could be used in the current trial to place Rossi in Utah in 2008. He also ruled that the woman who is the alleged victim in Utah County can testify in the Salt Lake County case.
He ruled that evidence about DNA collection in Ohio, which investigators have testified helped them identify Rossi, cannot be used. Evidence about Rossi's location and actions since 2017 will also be kept out of the trial, as the judge determined it would have low probative value and would cause prejudice against Rossi. This includes evidence of Rossi faking his own death, assuming an overseas alias, and fighting extradition over the course of multiple years.
Lawrence said there is evidence Rossi fled the country, but not evidence showing he did so because he felt guilty, saying he left well before the charges were filed in 2022.
Some other information from the investigation that led to Rossi being identified — including a credit application, evidence of tattoos, and multiple times he changed his name — can be brought into the trial.
Lawrence said testimony about his name changes are "particularly important" to avoid confusion in the jury — but he said it could be shared "without any gratuitous swipes" at Rossi. He said Rossi disputing his identity in hearings could be used by prosecutors to show evidence Rossi had a "consciousness of guilt" and could show "an attempt to thwart the prosecution of this case."
After being extradited in January of 2024, Nicholas Rossi continued to deny his identity, which UK courts had confirmed until October, asserting instead that he was Arthur Knight, an Irish orphan. But eventually, he testified that he was Rossi and had changed his name to escape unrelated threats. He still requested to use the last name Alahverdian instead of Rossi, citing an even earlier name change to honor his biological father.
In the Utah County case, Rossi is scheduled for a hearing on Aug. 19, shortly after the trial ends, to discuss yet another motion about evidence for the September trial.
In that case, a woman went to the hospital reporting she had been sexually assaulted by her ex-boyfriend. According to charging documents, she reported to police she had ended a relationship with Rossi because he was getting more aggressive and owed her money. Later, he invited her over, saying he would pay her the money he owed, and he forced sexual contact on her despite her saying no at least 10 times, according to prosecutors.
Charging documents say police reports in four different states show a consistent pattern of behavior from Rossi, including meeting a woman online, making manipulating comments, and forcing a nonconsensual sexual encounter or threatening suicide.
Although Pullan's rulings on motions addressing what can be used in the trial have not been made public, attorneys said in a recent hearing that based on the rulings, they no longer think the trial will need three weeks as was initially scheduled. Instead, prosecutors said they would need about three days to present evidence. Rossi's attorney, Daniel Diaz, said he would need two or three days.
