MONROE — An area man accused of beating and attempting to rape a woman he was drinking with two years ago is close to the start of his jury trial in Green County Circuit Court, after attorneys settled pre-trial matters relating to jury instructions and evidence before Judge Jane Bucher last Monday.
Julio Vacquez, 24, who lived in the 1800 block of 8th Avenue, is accused of six felonies, among them kidnapping, substantial battery, strangulation, and suffocation, second degree sexual assault, false imprisonment, and second-degree sexual assault in the 2023 incident.
The case was delayed slightly in late 2024, as a new attorney was appointed for Vacquez, following an earlier hearing in which Public Defender Jane Krueger Smith withdrew due to an unspecified conflict of interest, officials said.
At Monday’s hearing, a stoic Vacquez sat head down, in orange jail garb and sandals, waiting for his attorney, Robert C Howard III. Among other issues, Howard argued successfully that his client’s previous criminal record could only be alluded to indirectly — during specific questions about where his DNA sample was taken into evidence.
“I don’t see an issue as to that,” Howard told the judge, as Vacquez listened through an interpreter’s voice piped into the courtroom. Prior to the hearing the defendant, whose citizenship status is unknown, answered “Paquito” — or Spanish slang for “a little bit” — when asked if he understood the interpreter.
The hearing moved on and Howard added that he wanted to avoid any “improper influence” that might arise with knowledge by a jury that the defendant is in custody.
Future issues remain, but are few prior to jury trial, and those include dealing with any lingering matters around jury instructions. But Monday some key issues were decided, including how the defendant would be handcuffed and whether street clothes would be allowed instead of a jail jumpsuit and sandals.
Toward that end, Bucher ruled that he could wear street clothes in court at trial.
The ordeal leading to the charges began on Sunday, June 18, 2023, when Vacquez met the victim at a bar and then took her to his Monroe apartment to continue drinking. But the night went wrong, authorities allege, when she was allegedly grabbed by the defendant
He took her outside and began punching her in the head, according to the criminal complaint. It only got worse from there, they said in court filings.
“(She) Victim 1 stated Julio touched her legs, breast and neck,” said the criminal complaint. “(She) Victim confirmed Julio restricted her breathing and she felt pain in her neck.”
The complaint further alleges that he beat her and then attempted to remove her underwear as she tried in vain to flee the truck. But eventually she was able to get free and report the attack to Monroe Police.
Bond was set at $100,000 for Vacquez on March 18, 2024, before Green County Circuit Judge Faun M. Phillipson. He is scheduled to appear in court again for what appears to be a final pre-trial conference on August 18, also before Bucher.
If convicted of the kidnapping charge alone — among the most serious of the felonies — Vacquez faces a maximum possible sentence of 40 years in prison.