Mandy wasn’t sure how many Jell-O shots she’d done, but after a few, she was able to stomach the taste of beer. In addition to drinking, the afternoon was spent riding four-wheelers through a path in the wooded area behind the house, Jet Skiing in the man-made drainage lake, and finally swimming in the Olympic-size pool. By sunset, Mandy was drunk and asking Jason to take her home. But her boyfriend, who was also hammered, wanted to take one final ride on an ATV before dark. They got in a fight, and Jason went by himself on the trek while Mandy went inside the house to pee.

The downstairs bathroom was occupied, so she stumbled upstairs until she found one that wasn’t. After doing her business, she opened the door and bumped into a man who was standing in the hallway. He was holding a blue drink in his hand, and the collision caused him to spill it all over Mandy’s white cover-up. Mandy laughed and started to try to find the stairs, but the man stopped her and asked if she wanted to clean up. He had some things of his girlfriend’s that she could borrow to wear.

Despite her drunkenness, Mandy could tell that the man was much older than she was. Nevertheless, he was cute, and Mandy, still mad at Jason for abandoning her, said, “OK.”

He led her into a huge bedroom and told her that she could use the shower. By that point, Mandy felt sick. Her memory was hazy on some of the story, but she knew she had thrown up before getting in the shower. Once she turned the water on, she heard the glass door open and close. The only thing keeping her from passing out at this point was the water that pelted her forehead. Then she felt his soapy hands on her body. Touching her. She said no, but he didn’t stop. He slid his finger inside her, and she tried to fight off his hand, but she kept losing her balance on the slippery tile floor. She elbowed him in the stomach and managed to climb out of the shower, but he caught her by the vanity. He straddled himself against her so that she couldn’t move and pressed against her back until she was bent over the sink. She screamed “NO!” but his hand clasped over her mouth and muffled the sound.

And then . . .

“And then what, Mandy? What happened next?” In the small confines of her office, Helen could hear Mandy’s choppy breathing pattern.

Mandy Burks bit her lower lip and peered straight ahead, her eyes and voice fierce with determination. “He raped me.”

“How long did it last?”

Her face remained stoic. “A minute. Maybe two.”

“Is the person who raped you in the courtroom today?”