HANCOCK COUNTY — The trial of a man accused of rape and sexual misconduct with a minor is under way in Hancock Circuit Court.
Hayden J. Nix, 20, Greenfield, has been accused of one Level 3 felony count of rape and two counts of sexual misconduct with a minor, which are Level 5 felonies. The charges carry a total sentence of 28 years in prison.
Nix has been accused of attacking a Hancock County girl, who was 14 years old at the time, after she left her home late at night, without her parents’ permission, and got into a car where Nix was an occupant. The incident occurred on Oct. 19, 2017.
The girl’s parents reported the incident several weeks later. Charges were filed Dec. 21, 2017.
The trial opened Tuesday afternoon in front of a 12-person jury of nine women and three men. Hancock County Court Commissioner Cody Coombs is presiding.
Deputy prosecutor Catherine Wilson told the jury during her opening statement she was going to share the victim’s story throughout the trial and was seeking justice for the girl. Wilson said it’s a story of a young teen who thought she was heading to a party with friends after sneaking out late one night. Instead, Wilson said, she was raped in the car by a man she barely knew.
After that, Wilson told the jury, the girl didn’t know what to do. “A month later, she gathered her family and told them she had been raped,” Wilson said.
Nix’s attorney, Zaki Muhammad Ali, told the jury in his opening statement the case was “a mess” and asked the jury to listen for inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case.
“Did a rape really take place?” Ali asked. “I’m going to put up the reasonable doubt, and I’m going to ask you to find this man not guilty.”
Nix, dressed in a white shirt and dark slacks, during the opening day, sat quietly, showing no emotion at the defendant’s table.
During the second day of the trial, the victim testified and told the jury she was raped by Nix and was frozen by the action following the incident.
“I was shocked, and I thought I was going to get sick,” the girl said.
After the encounter, Nix asked her if she liked it, and the girl said she was at a loss for words.
“I didn’t know what to say,” the girl said. “I said, ‘I guess,’ but I didn’t want it to happen.”
When the defense questioned the victim, Ali asked, “You never had consensual sex with Hayden, is that correct?” The girl answered, “Correct.”
The trial this week is the latest in a series of battles involving charges against Nix for assaulting girls. In April, Nix pleaded guilty to three Level 5 felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor. He received 10 years in prison in that case. Then, in May, a jury convicted him after a two-day trial of beating another girl. All the incidents took place in the fall of 2017.
Nix is also facing another rape and sexual misconduct case against a minor from another incident alleged to have happened on Oct. 14, 2017. Charges in that case were filed in January of 2019, according to court records. Nix is scheduled for a final pretrial conference on those charges Aug. 14, but a trial date has yet to be set.
His current trial is expected to wrap up sometime Thursday or Friday.
