OAN Staff Abril Elfi
1:00 PM – Wednesday, August 14, 2024
A cardiologist based in Denver has been found guilty of 35 counts in a sexual assault trial taking place in Colorado.
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Stephen Matthews, 36, was found guilty on nearly all counts of sexual assault by a jury on Tuesday.
The cardiologist had been on trial regarding allegations that he met a number of women through dating apps, would sneak drugs into their system unbeknownst to them, and then later sexually assault or rape them after they lost their memory or began falling asleep.
In October 2023, Matthews had pleaded not guilty to all 38 counts.
With the exception of three counts of sexual assault involving a single victim, where the jury returned not guilty verdicts, the jury found the defendant guilty on the rest of the counts.
The jury found Matthews guilty of a third-degree assault charge after downgrading the second-degree assault charge against the same victim. The jury found the defendant guilty on 35 counts total, including charges of sexual assault and second-degree assault.
“A verdict doesn’t change what happened to you. There are lifelong physical and emotional things that I will be dealing with as a result of what happened to me,” said one victim, who wanted to be identified as Audrey.
“He took away years of our life. Healing… the ability to go out and live freely without being worried that we’re going to be under attack. He took away a lot from us. He took away our memory, so he doesn’t get to have a reaction. He did this,” said one victim who did not want to be identified.
Prosecutors said last week during closing arguments that the women’s accounts of their experiences were strikingly similar.
One women testified at trial saying that she first connected with Matthews through online dating services like Hinge and Tinder, starting in 2019 and ending in early 2023. The women claimed that following their drinks with the doctor, they lost consciousness and thought they had been drugged and, in certain cases, sexually assaulted.
Matthews met with his targets strategically, according to the prosecution. He would meet them outside of his house and act friendly before extending an invitation for them to come in for a drink or conversation. Prosecutors went on to say that they believed Matthews should be found guilty since these were obvious, intentional patterns and tactics.
“What we do know is that this is an obvious, obvious case of a man who feels entitled to perpetrate against women for his own benefit, by robbing them of memory, by robbing them of bodily autonomy, and by impairing their memories,” prosecutors said.
In the meantime, the defense counsel argued in their closing statements that there was no proof of evidence in the case and that the allegations from the victims were inconsistent.
“This would be a case about stories, and at the end of the case, the DA’s closing rested largely on stories, accusing stories that changed and often went untested by the government,” defense attorneys said. “The case did have a lot of overwhelming emotion. We all were moved by the testimony that you heard. It was tough to listen to, but that’s what the case ended up being about, overwhelming emotion and underwhelming evidence.”
Denver District Attorney Beth McCann released a statement regarding the verdict.
“Stephen Matthews took advantage of nearly a dozen women in the most egregious way imaginable, and for that he will now pay a significant price. I hope today’s verdict provides a measure of comfort to all the victims, whose courage throughout this case should be an inspiration to us all,” McCann said. “I want to thank the prosecutors, investigators, victim advocates and paralegals from my office, as well as the detectives from the Denver Police Department, whose outstanding work got us to this point today. I also want to thank the jurors for their service during this lengthy and emotional trial. Justice was clearly served today.”
Matthews has remained in custody at a Denver jail on a $5 million bond since his arrest. His sentencing is set for October 25th and he faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.
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